IOUs hit P3.85T in Feb

THE TOTAL amount of outstanding government-issued debt paper rose to P3.85 trillion as of February after the Bureau of the Treasury fully awarded the T-bills and T-bonds auctioned off that month at lower yields.

The latest Treasury data showed the February figure was higher than the P3.82 trillion recorded at end-January.

Last month, the Treasury awarded all P20 billion in T-bills offered as yields dropped across the board. It also sold P25 billion in reissued five-year T-bonds at a lower rate of 3.647 percent.

At the end of February, treasury bonds totaling P3.75 trillion accounted for the bulk of outstanding debt paper. Outstanding treasury bills, meanwhile, reached P275.2 billion.

Of the outstanding T-bills, P85.2 billion was from the auction of 91-day IOUs; P93.1 billion from 182-day debt paper; and P96.8 billion from 364-day treasury bills.

As for the outstanding T-bonds, three-year IOUs amounted P145.5 billion; five-year debt paper, P251.4 billion; seven-year treasury bonds, P469.1 billion; and 10-year T-bonds, P374.4 billion.