BTr to bid out P135B worth of IOUs in Q3

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will borrow P135 billion from the domestic market in the third quarter through the auction of various debt paper with short and long tenors, similar to the programmed volumes in the first two quarters.

In a June 25 memorandum, National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said the BTr would offer P20 billion in treasury bills each on July 6, Aug. 3 and Sept. 7.

For each of the scheduled T-bills auction between July and September, the offer volumes will be composed of P8 billion in benchmark 91-day debt paper, P6 billion in 182-day IOUs, and P6 billion in 364-day T-bills.

As for treasury bonds, P75 billion worth will be offered in the next three months.

On July 21, the BTr will auction off P25 billion in three-year T-bonds; P25 billion in five-year debt paper on Aug. 18, and P25 billion in seven-year IOUs on Sept. 22.

A total of P75 billion in treasury bonds were also offered during the second quarter, but the BTr rejected all bids for P25 billion in re-issued 10-year debt paper in April and accepted only P22.385 billion of the P25-billion re-issued seven-year IOUs in May amid rising bid rates. This month, the BTr fully awarded P25 billion in re-issued three-year T-bonds at a higher average rate.

As for treasury bills, the BTr raised P14.46 billion in April, P13 billion in May, and P15.5 billion in June, out of the P20-billion offering for each T-bill auction.

The latest BTr data showed that as of the end of May, outstanding government-issued debt paper amounted to P3.818 trillion.

T-bonds accounted for the bulk of outstanding IOUs as of the end of May with a total face amount of P3.538 trillion, while T-bills stood at P279.7 billion.

For this year, the government had programmed a borrowing mix of 86-percent domestic and 14-percent external, as the “mountains of cash” being held by the BTr were seen as enough buffer to sustain expenditures.