National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon
MANILA -- Rates of the Philippines Treasury bills (T-bills) fell across-the-board Monday as domestic liquidity remains high.
Average rate of the 91-day paper declined to 3.297 percent from 3.390 percent during the auction last January 20.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) offered this tenor for PHP6 billion but tenders were more than three times at PHP18.832 billion. The auction committee made a full award.
Rate of the 182-day paper slipped to 3.597 percent from last week’s 3.700 percent.
Total tenders reached PHP11.995 billion, higher than the PHP6-billion offer, which was fully awarded.
Average rate of the 364-day T-bill went down to 3.967 percent from 4 percent during the auction last January 20.
It was offered for PHP8 billion and received bids amounting to PHP13.689 billion. The auction committee made a full award.
National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon told journalists after the auction that aside from strong domestic liquidity, another factor for the drop of the T-bill rates is the demand for the three-month paper.
She said uncertainties, especially overseas, remain thus, the strong demand for the debt paper and full award for all tenors.
Meanwhile, de Leon is hopeful for the sale of the three-year retail treasury bonds (RTB) during the rate setting auction Tuesday.
Last week, the BTr announced that PHP30 billion worth of RTBs would be offered for the auction on Tuesday. Offer period has been set until February 6, 2020.
A swap sale for the three-year RTB issued in 2018 will also be conducted alongside the RTB sale.
Citing results of RTB rate setting auctions in the past, de Leon said bids normally reached over PHP100 billion.
She is optimistic of a strong demand for the debt paper, citing that “it’s something that, right now, still would have a strong appetite for investors recognizing that (it is) still (at the) immediate part of the curve.”
De Leon is open to the possibility of increasing the PHP30-billion offer “if we still see good rates and see that there are still follow-on after the auction.”
The last time the government issued an RTB was in March 2019, wherein PHP235.93 billion worth of three-year was issued. (PNA)
