The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said Monday it raised P22 billion from the sale of Treasury bills (T-bills), with total bids more than four times the amount offered.
The auction was oversubscribed, attracting P97.19 billion in total tenders, exceeding the government’s P22-billion offer. The BTr fully awarded P7 billion for the 91-day T-bill, and P7.5 billion each for the 182-day and 364-day T-bills.
The 91-day tenor settled at an average yield of 4.880 percent, with total tenders reaching P25.21 billion. The 182-day and 364-day tenors fetched average rates of 5.072 percent and 5.119 percent, with total tenders reaching P36.76 billion and P35.22 billion, respectively.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said this week’s T-bill auction yields were again lower for the 14th week following the largely unexpected 25 basis points rate cut by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Oct. 9.
“The series of BSP rate cuts in recent months and possible BSP and Fed rate cuts in the coming months led more investors to lock in yields before they go down further in the coming months amid still relatively larger total demand in recent weeks,” Ricafort said, adding that this could further reduce borrowing or financing costs for the government, businesses, consumers, and the overall economy.
This sustained lower yield occurred despite the fact that yields on the comparable short-term PHP Bloomberg Valuation (BVAL) were slightly higher by 0.02 to 0.06 for the three-month and six-month tenors, while the one-year tenor was slightly lower by 0.05, he said.
