Treasury makes partial awards as yields rise across the board

THE BUREAU of the Treasury on Monday partially awarded the bills it auctioned as yields rose across the board. A total of P16.35 billion in treasury bills was sold out of the P20 billion on offer.

The Treasury sold only P2.35 billion of the P6-billion offering for 182-day bills, although tenders fell short at only P5.4 billion. The average rate for the debt paper maturing on Oct. 5 increased to 1.758 percent from 1.508 percent during the previous auction.

For the benchmark 91-day treasury bills, P8 billion was accepted out of the P14.31 billion tendered. The yield for the IOUs maturing on July 6 rose to 1.551 percent from 1.513 percent last month.

As for the 364-day bills, investors tendered P8.02 billion for the P6-billion offering. The yield for the debt paper maturing on April 5 next year climbed to 1.779 percent from 1.678 percent at last month’s auction.

National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan told reporters that Monday’s auction had “an odd result.”

With regards the undersubscribed auction for 182-day bills, Tan said “apparently the money was not that much for various reasons,” hence the preference for 91- or 364-day debt paper.

Separately, Tan said finance officials would embark on a non-deal roadshow in London later this week.

“This is the second leg of our roadshow. It is important that we consult with our investors based in London given the developments ongoing in the Philippines, particular on the election and the economy,” Tan explained.

Last month, Tan led the Boston and Los Angeles legs of the government’s non-deal roadshow in the United States, which also visited New York.

He said 15-18 investor-companies were expected to attend the London roadshow on top of at least 50 conference participants.

During the US roadshow in March, Philippine officials met with top executives of 18 US-based asset management firms.