T-bills yield mixed results

MANILA, Philippines - Treasury bills fetched mixed results during yesterday’s auction as investors continued to show preference for short-term securities, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said yesterday.

The BTr awarded in full the P6 billion in 91-day T-bills, P5 billion in 182-day T-bills, and P4 billion in 365-day T-bills amid strong demand from investors.

The shortest-dated securities fetched an average rate of 2.084 percent, 1.9 basis points lower than the 2.103 percent recorded during the previous auction last June 5.

It was also lower than the secondary market rate for the same securities, which stood at 2.6804 percent the afternoon before the auction closed.

The P6 billion offering was oversubscribed, with tenders reaching P21.679 billion.

Likewise, the average rate for the 182-day T-bills shed 3.5 basis points to settle at 2.421 percent from the 2.456 percent posted the previous auction.

Total tenders for the six-month debt paper hit P18.902 billion, almost four times the P5 billion issuance.

On the other hand, the 364-day T-bills posted an average yield of 2.875 percent, higher than the previous auction’s 2.85 percent, and the secondary market rate of 2.8074 percent.

The one-year securities was three times oversubscribed with P12.376 billion in total tenders.

“It was a very healthy auction. For all tenor buckets it was oversubscribed, it was like three times more our offering amount,” National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon told reporters after the auction.

“And for the 91-and 182-day (T-bills), we see reduced offer for those two tenors, but there is a slight uptick for the 364-day tenor and I think really again the appetite continues on the short end of the curve,” she said.