Treasury sells P16.94-B T-bills

The Bureau of the Treasury awarded only P2.94 billion or less than a third of the P6-billion 364-day bills offered Monday as bid rates rose due to uncertainties caused by the debt crisis in Greece.

The Treasury nonetheless made a full award of the 91-day and 182-day treasury bills it auctioned off.

For the three-month debt paper, the Treasury accepted P8 billion out of the P26.94 billion tendered. The average rate for 91-day IOUs slid by 6.4 basis points to 2.078 percent.

Six-month bills worth P6 billion out of P16.5 billion in tenders were also auctioned off. The rate for the 182-day debt instrument was 2.333 percent, 1.7 basis points lower than in the previous auction.

As for the one-year treasury bills, the Treasury rejected tenders amounting P3.5 billion. The average rate at which the Treasury partially accepted offers was 2.552 percent, 4 basis points higher than the previous rate.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, who chaired Monday’s auction, noted that the demand for the shorter-term debt instrument was bigger as the market seemed to be on a wait-and-see stance for longer-term IOUs due to “trouble in the international market.” Majority of Greeks on Sunday voted to reject further austerity measures dictated by the country’s creditors.

“That’s the reason [for the higher 364-day bill bid rates] but eventually that [Greek debt problem] will die down and everything will start to normalize. As for the Philippines, we have such strong finances. I think that will shield us in case there’s volatility as a result of the Greek problem,” Beltran told reporters. Ben O. de Vera