MANILA – The rates of treasury bills (T-bills) declined Monday as demand continued to remain high.
The average rate of the 91-day paper declined to 1.278 percent, the 182-day to 1.549 percent, and the 364-day to 1.829 percent.
These were at 1.306 percent, 1.629 percent, and 1.863 percent for the three-month, six-month, and one-year paper during the auction last May 3.
“Strong market presence in auction with rates declining across all tenors,” National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon told journalists in a Viber message.
This week, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) offered the 91-day paper for PHP5 billion but upsized the award to PHP7 billion after the auction committee doubled the accepted volume of non-competitive bids.
Total tenders amounted to PHP23.172 billion.
The same theme was registered for the 182-day auction, resulting in a total award of PHP11.2 billion from the original offer of PHP8 billion.
Bids totaled PHP31.431 billion.
Tenders for the one-year paper reached PHP42.636 billion, more than three times the PHP12 billion offer, which was fully awarded.
BTr reoffered the one-year paper over the tap facility window for PHP7 billion after the auction and made a full award.
Total bids amounted to PHP16.75 billion.
De Leon said “markets see BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) providing continued anchor for economic rebound.”
Aside from the low interest rates, which resulted from the total of 200 basis points reduction in the central bank’s key rates last year as the BSP’s way of providing cushion to the domestic economy vis-à-vis the impact of the pandemic, de Leon said the government also bids to “reposition debt portfolio bias for local currency.”
Bulk or about 75 percent of the government’s borrowings program for this year leans towards domestic fund sources. (PNA)
