T-bills up across the board
MANILA, Philippines - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills (T-bills) rose across the board yesterday amid rising uncertainty over US president-elect Donald Trump’s policies.
Local banks demanded higher yields for T-bills at yesterday’s auction, forcing the government to reject some bids for 91-day, six-month and one year papers. As a result, the government raised only P9 billion from the offering, or just 60 percent of what the government offered.
The 91-day T-bills fetched an average rate of 1.78 percent, up from 1.555 percent on Dec. 5 while the 182-day and 364-day papers climbed to 2.037 percent and 2.276 percent, from 1.876 percent and 1.88 percent, respectively.
Total tenders reached nearly P12 billion-P4.35 billion for the 90-day T-bills, P4.66 billion for the 181-day securities and P2.98 billion for the 364-day debt paper.
National Treasurer Roberto Tan said investors were still on a wait and see stance ahead of Trump’s inauguration and amid concerns over Britain’s exit from the European Union.
“People are still on the sidelines, I think they’re waiting for some events. There’s the Trump factor, some negative news from the market with the coming US president making some announcements. So what we did was really follow the market trend based on price guidance,” Tan said.
All eyes are expected to be on Trump’s inauguration this Friday for clarity on his economic plans. Zinnia Dela Peña
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