T-bills auction fetches mixed results

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) yesterday fully awarded P20 billion worth of Treasury bills (T-bills), even as the securities fetched mixed results across different tenors.

During yesterday’s auction, rates for the 91-day T-bills averaged at 1.167 percent, 1.3 basis points lower than the 1.18 percent recorded in the previous week.

The P5 billion offering was almost four times oversubscribed, with total tenders amounting to P19.028 billion.

On the other hand, the average rate for the 182-day debt papers rose by 9.7 basis points to 1.518 percent from 1.421 percent a week ago.

Total tenders amounted to P11.008 billion, more than two times the P5 billion offer size.

The one-year or 364-day securities also fetched an average rate of 1.807 percent, 1.9 basis points up from last week’s level of 1.788 percent.

Healthy demand also met the P10 billion offering as total bids reached P26.651 billion.

Overall, the auction attracted P56.687 billion in total tenders, with P20 billion awarded.

Despite the mixed results, National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said the rates for the T-bills remained low amid strong demand from investors.

“Rates remain low even with adjustment on 182-day (T-bills). Good demand remains with volume received in the auction,” she said.

The government is ramping up its borrowings to plug the deficit in its budget which is now expected to widen to 9.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) due to the pandemic.

For September, the BTr is planning to sell P160 billion worth of securities in the domestic market.

The bulk or P100 billion of the amount will come in the form of T-bills, while the remaining P60 billion will be Treasury bonds.