T-bill yields mixed in auction

MANILA, Philippines — Short-term government securities yesterday fetched mixed results as yields for 91 day and 182-day Treasury bills increased, while rates for the 364-day debt papers declined, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

During yesterday’s auction, the rates for the three-month debt notes averaged at 3.192 percent, 2.4 basis points higher than the 3.168 percent recorded in the previous auction.

Total tenders amounted to P10.46 billion, higher than the P8 billion offering.

Likewise, the 182-day T-bills fetched an average rate of 3.348 percent, which is 9.9 basis points higher compared to the 3.249 percent level posted two weeks ago.

The auction was slightly oversubscribed, with total bids reaching P6.827 billion.

On the other hand, the average rate for the 364-day debt papers declined by 2.6 basis points to 3.475 percent from 3.501 percent in the previous auction.

The P6 billion offering was almost four times oversubscribed, as total tenders amounted to P23.101 billion.

Despite the mixed results, the auction committee of the BTr still decided to fully award the T-bills totaling P20 billion.

In an interview, National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said investors sought higher rates for the securities with shorter tenors, mainly due to expectations of inflation slowly inching up in November and the coming months.

“We saw, in terms of the expectations, that there would be an increase in the inflation path for next year. Even for the expectations for November, it’s going to be 0.9 to 1.7 percent already,” De Leon said.

Due to the strong demand for the one-year T-bills, the Treasury decided to open its tap facility to allow it to absorb P6 billion more in tenders.

Meanwhile, De Leon said the BTr’s ongoing premyo bond offering has received good reception from the public, particularly from individual investors.

“We’re very encouraged by the reception, particularly on the individuals. For the individuals, we see (them) opening an account to be able to participate because you need a depository account to invest in the premyo bonds,” she said.

She said the total book order has already reached more than half of the P3 billion offer size, only one week into the start of the fund raising activity.