T-bill rates inch up; 91-day at 1.298%

MANILA, Philippines–The Bureau of the Treasury on Monday made a full award of P20 billion worth of treasury bills while rates on the six-month and one-year paper declined alongside lower inflation.

A total of P58.43 billion was tendered for the 91-, 182- and 346-day securities, almost three times more than the total offering.

For the 91-day debt paper, P8 billion was auctioned at 1.298 percent, higher by 15.4 basis points from the 1.144 percent during the previous auction. The three-month paper maturing on Feb. 4 next year fetched P17.524 billion in bids.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, who chaired Monday’s auction, said the higher rate of the 91-day bills was a “normal change” as it remained lower than secondary market rates.

As for the 182-day bills, P6 billion was awarded at 1.654 percent, lower by 2.2 basis points than the previous rate of 1.676 percent. For the six-month IOUs maturing on May 6, 2015, P17.21 billion was tendered by investors.

The 346-day paper, meanwhile, was auctioned at 1.768 percent, down 10.2 basis points from 1.87 percent previously. The one-year bills maturing on Nov. 4 next year fetched bids amounting to P23.7 billion.

Beltran said the lower rates for the six-month and one-year paper reflected the lower inflation forecast for October.

Inflation in October was expected to fall to 3.7-4.6 percent from the peak of 4.9 percent in July and August.