Banks swarm BSP’s maiden TDF auction

The maiden auction of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ term deposit facility (TDF) held Wednesday was swarmed by banks, attracting more than P199.7 billion in bids for the offering of P30 billion.

Both the seven- and 28-day term deposits auctioned off under the interest rate corridor (IRC), aimed at mopping up excess liquidity and tempering volatility in market rates by moving them toward the policy rate, yielded an average rate of 2.5 percent.

The BSP awarded all P10 billion in seven-day term deposits offered even as the auction was oversubscribed by more than eight times with tenders hitting P82.4 billion.

The offering for P20 billion in 28-day term deposits was also oversubscribed by nearly six times, with bids reaching P117.3 billion.

“We are pleased with the how the auctions were conducted without any technical hitch. That the auction was filled at the same rate as the overnight deposit facility (ODF) seems to indicate that there is still significant liquidity in the system, which we expect will be siphoned off in the ODF throughout the day,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said.