T-bills fetch mixed results

MANILA, Philippines — Treasury bills fetched mixed results yesterday as rates for the 91-day and 182-day securities declined, while rates for 364-day debt papers went up, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported yesterday.

During yesterday’s auction, the BTr fully awarded P4 billion worth of 91-day T-bills at an average rate of 3.037 percent, 11.2 basis points lower than the 3.149 percent recorded in the previous auction last week.

This was likewise lower than the secondary market rate for three-month debt notes, which stood at 3.345 percent before the auction closed.

Total tenders reached P11.9 billion, almost three times higher than the offer size.

Meanwhile, P5 billion worth of 182-day securities were also awarded at an average rate of 3.42 percent, which is 0.9 basis points below last week’s level of 3.429 percent. This was also lower than the secondary market rate for the same securities which was recorded at 3.513 percent.

The offering was more than twice oversubscribed, as total tenders reached P12.75 billion.

On the other hand, the BTr made a partial award of one-year debt papers after capping the accepted bids at 3.675 percent to temper down rates.

As a result, the securities fetched an average rate of 3.66 percent, 0.7 basis points up from 3.659 percent in the previous auction, and 3.3 basis points higher than the secondary market rate of 3.699 percent.

Total bids amounted to P10.403 billion, but the BTr made a partial award of only P3.983 billion.

“We have a very healthy auction. The offers from our dealers, they are more than our offer amount. We also saw that in terms of rates, they’re even lower than the current secondary (market rates), except for the one-year. That’s why we also made a partial award,” National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said after the auction.

According to De Leon, the decline in rates for the three-month and six-month securities is a reflection of the market’s expectation for further monetary policy easing in the country.

“The two tenors, they are all going down following the pronouncements of Gov. Diokno that there is also room for the Monetary Board to cut policy rates and also even the RRR (reserve ratio requirement),” the national treasurer said.

“Of course after the attack on the oil fields of Saudi Arabia over the weekend, the governor also said that they will be monitoring developments and this event willed Leon said.