T-bill rates up moderately

MANILA, Philippines — Rates fetched by short-term securities rose moderately amid lower inflationary expectations from the market following the 25-basis point interest rate hike implemented by the central bank, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said yesterday.

The 91-day T-bills fetched an average rate of 5.295 percent, 12.3 basis points higher than the 5.172 percent recorded in the previous auction.

The auction was slightly oversubscribed, with total tenders reaching P4.74 billion.

Meanwhile, the average yield fetched by 182-day securities climbed 3.5 basis points to 6.28 percent from last week’s level of 6.245 percent.

Healthy demand met the auction, with total bids amounting to P11.928 billion or almost twice the offer volume.

Lastly, rates for the 364-day debt notes averaged 6.53 percent, 0.9 basis points higher than the 6.521 percent posted in the precious auction.

Total tenders for the one-year securities reached P13.612 billion, more than twice the P6 billion offer size.

“We had a good auction today, (in terms of) oversubscription and also the result in terms of the rates, particularly for the 182 and 364-day,” National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said.

According to De Leon, the results of the auction reflect the market’s sentiment on inflation following the recent 25-basis point rate hike implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“Investors are already locking in after the 25 basis point hike by the Monetary Board. More or less inflationary expectations have already been anchored, and also results of the past month that inflation is already lower at 6.68 percent,” De Leon said.

“So investors see that we are able to already temper inflation with all these actions coming from the Monetary Board,” she said.

Meanwhile, De Leon confirmed that the government is eyeing to conduct its second panda bond (renminbi-denominated securities) in the first half of next year.

“We’ve already mentioned that it is also part of the overall menu...We are looking at the first half,” De Leon said.

The national treasurer said the BTr is also looking to increase the volume for the issuance.

“If there is a possibility to upsize, then we will do that,” she said.