Government makes full award of T-bills

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of the Treasury made a full award of P15 billion in Treasury bills during yesterday’s auction amid strong demand for government issued financial instruments.

Rates for the 91-day T-bills eased 4.5 basis points to settle at 2.103 percent from the 2.148 percent recorded in the previous auction.

Total tenders for the shortest-dated securities reached P25.08 billion, more than four times the P6 billion offering.

Rates for the 182-day T-bills fetched an average rate of 2.456 percent, 3.8 basis points lower than the 2.494 percent posted during the last auction.

Tenders for the securities amounted to P14.68 billion, almost three times the P5 billion offering.

On the other hand, the 364-day T-bills fetched a rate of 2.85 percent down 1.5 basis points from the 2.835 percent in the previous auction.

The securities were also oversubscribed, with P12.07 billion in total tenders as against the P4 billion offering.

“We had a good auction given that liquidity is on the short end of the curve. That is probably because by June, trusts should be pulling out of the TDF (term deposit facility),” National Treasurer Leah De Leon told reporters after the auction.

According to De Leon, the rates fetched by the securities remained within “reasonable” range despite the expectation of a rate hike from the US Federal Reserve in June.

She added that domestic inflation is expected to drop from the previous months, while annual inflation is seen to remain within the target of two to four percent.

Overall, De Leon said there is reason to believe that rates would continue to be “reasonable” and within expectations.