The government on Monday sold P16.35 billion worth of debt papers in the first auction in the second quarter, despite the higher rates demanded by investors.
The Bureau of Treasury raised P8 billion from the sale of 91-day debt instruments, P2.35 billion from 182-day Treasury bills and P6 billion from 364-day debt papers.
“Apparently the money was not that much for various reasons. They’d rather prefer either 91-day [papers], depending on cash requirements during the year, or 364-day instruments,” National Treasurer Roberto Tan said after the auction.
Interest rates on the P91-day or three-month debt facilities rose 8.2 basis points to 1.551 percent Monday from 1.469 percent in the previous auction. Tenders for the three-month debt papers reached P14.3 billion, or almost double the original offer of P8 billion.
The yield of 364-day Treasury bills also climbed by 2.9 basis points to 1.779 percent from 1.750 percent as tenders for the one-year facilities hit P8.02 billion, exceeding the P2.02-billion offer.
The government sold only P2.35 billion worth of 182-day Treasury bills, with interest rates jumping 16.9 basis points to 1.758 percent from 1.589 percent.
“The 182-day tenor is also good for the private sector to have a pricing benchmark in the money market,” Tan said.
The Treasury is set to sell P135 worth of debt papers in the second quarter of 2016, including P60 billion worth of short-term debt papers.
The government set the borrowing mix for 2016 at 85 percent from domestic market and 15 percent from the foreign market.
Meanwhile, the national government’s outstanding debt increased to P5.94 trillion as of end-February.