T-bill rates slightly higher

MANILA, Philippines — Treasury bill rates rose moderately across the board amid lower inflationary expectations from the market, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said yesterday.

The uptick in rates prompted the BTr to fully award the securities amounting to P15 billion – P4 billion for 91-day, P5 billion for 182-day and P6 billion for 364-day T-bills.

The 91-day securities fetched an average rate of 5.172 percent, 9.5 basis points higher than the 5.077 percent recorded by the same securities last week.

This was also in line with the secondary market rate or the Bloomberg Valuation (BVAL) Rate of 5.172 percent for the same securities.

Total tenders reached P6.86 billion, 71.5 percent higher than the offering’s original volume.

Meanwhile, the BTr also awarded the 182-day T-bills at an average rate of 6.245 percent, 1.2 basis points higher than last week’s level of 6.233 percent.

This was likewise higher than the secondary market rate for the same securities, which settled at 5.948 percent before the auction closed.

The offering was more than twice oversubscribed with total bids reaching P10.278 billion.

Lastly, the average rate fetched by 364-day debt papers rose 1.5 basis points to 6.521 percent from the 6.506 percent recorded last week.

This was also almost the same as the 6.522 percent secondary market rate for the same securities.

Total tenders reached P11.503 billion, almost twice the P6 billion offering.

 “It’s a very healthy auction. We saw that rates (were) really flat. Rates have plateaued for both the 182 and 364-day with very marginal, 1.2 to 1.5 basis points, increase over last week’s auction and it’s aligned with the secondary market BVAL rates,” National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said in an interview after the auction.

De Leon said the rates, as well as the healthy demand for the securities, reflect the market’s expectation that inflation may have already started to taper off.

Meanwhile, De Leon said the government is on track with its borrowing program for 2018.

She said the BTr is monitoring market developments in the US to determine the proper timing for its US dollar-denominated global bonds, and is planning to meet with the Task Force Bangon Marawi this month to determine the projects and funding requirements of the program in preparation for its Marawi bond issuance.