Full award at T-bill auction

MANILA, Philippines — The government awarded in full P25 billion worth of Treasury bills (T-bills), even as rates rose slightly for debt papers with shorter tenors.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised the full amount from total tenders of P71.65 billion, making the offer almost three times oversubscribed.

The average yield for the benchmark 91-day T-bills settled at 1.349 percent, up slightly from 1.325 percent in the previous week’s auction, while that for the 182-day debt papers settled at 1.713 percent, up from 1.695 percent last week.

Yield for the 364-day debt paper, meanwhile fell to 1.884 percent from 1.903 percent in the previous auction because of stronger demand.

“There is more demand on short end,” said National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon.

To take advantage of the abundant liquidity in the system and the strong demand, the BTr will raise P5 million more from one-year securities through its tap facility that gives dealers access to the securities after the primary auction.

A bond trader said players seem to prefer the one-year papers as the market continues to flock to safe haven assets.

During yesterday’s auction, tenders for the P12 billion on offer for the 364-day tenor rose to P35.2 billion from P27.8 billion in the previous week.

BTr has raised its borrowing program for April as it seeks to raise P170 billion from the local bond market, up from the programmed P160 billion in March.

Programmed were P25 billion in short-term debt papers to be auctioned every Monday beginning April 5 for a total of P100 billion in April.

These weekly T- bill offers will be composed of P5 billion for those with 91-day tenor, P8 billion for 182-days tenor, and P12 billion for P364-day tenor.

To be offered every other Tuesday, meanwhile, are P70 billion worth of treasury bonds broken down as P35 billion for five-year securities and another