MANILA – The rates of the Philippines’ treasury bills (T-bills) declined anew Monday as demand remained high.
The average rate of the 91-day paper slipped to 1.221 percent, the 182-day to 1.454 percent, and the 364-day to 1.749 percent.
These were at 1.335 percent, 1.605 percent, and 1.758 percent for the three- and six-month papers and the one-year paper during the T-bill auction last July 27.
National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said placing of the National Capital Region (NCR) and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan back under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for 15 days starting August 4 did not affect investors’ sentiment.
“None with overwhelming subscription and continued fall in rates with surplus liquidity and preference for haven assets. This, in spite of the mammoth RTB (retail treasury bond) issue,” she told journalists in a Viber message after the auction.
De Leon said the domestic economy is still “flushed with liquidity” and that “flight to safe haven” remains.
The auction committee made a full award for all tenors at PHP5 billion each for the three- and six-month papers, and PHP10 billion for the 12-month tenor.
Bids for the 91-day T-bill reached PHP25.51 billion while it was PHP23.585 billion for the 182-day and PHP27.31 billion for the 364-day.
De Leon said they also decided to open the tap facility window to offer additional PHP5 billion for the one-year T-bill.
Meanwhile, she declined to say how much the BTr has accepted so far in terms of the ongoing RTB offer, which will last until August 7, 2020.
“(We) will just report (awarded) RTB during the closing (period) for the final amount,” de Leon added.
RTBs are intended for small investors since minimum placement is PHP5,000. Additional investments can be made in increments of PHP5,000.
During the rate-setting auction for the debt paper last July 16, the five-year RTB fetched a coupon rate of 2.625 percent.
The auction committee awarded PHP192.7 billion worth of RTB, more than six times higher than the PHP30-billion offer.
Aside from placing RTB investments through the branches of the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and financial institutions that have been tapped for this purpose -- the China Banking Corporation (Chinabank) and the First Metro Securities and Brokerage Corporation -- investors can also place their orders through the mobile app Bonds.PH which is available from the Play Store for Android phones and Apple Store for IOS. (PNA)
