BTR clips rate hike for 1-year IOUs

On the heels of a successful retail treasury bond (RTB) sale, the Bureau of the Treasury on Monday only partially awarded the 364-day T-bills it offered to temper rising rates.

The Treasury accepted P3.15 billion out of the P4-billion one-year IOUs auctioned off at an annual rate of 2.945 percent, up from 2.799 percent last month. This, despite an oversubscription of P5.3 billion.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters that the partial award was to “make sure that rates will stay reasonable.”

The sale of a total of over P175 billion in retail bonds during the past two weeks also helped the government maintain a “healthy” cash balance, De Leon said.

“We will settle the RTBs [Tuesday], but with the inflows coming from the RTBs, there is really room for us to be more discerning in terms of the rates,” De Leon said.

Rates for the 91- and 182-day government securities also inched up but the Treasury fully awarded their respective offerings.

For the three-month IOUs, the Treasury sold all P6 billion offered at an average rate of 2.394 percent, up from last month’s 2.374 percent. The auction for the 91-day T-bills maturing on July 12 was oversubscribed, with P18.53 billion in bids or more than thrice the offering.

For the six-month debt paper, the Treasury accepted P5 billion at a yield of 2.608 percent, up slightly from 2.606 percent previously. Investors tendered P10.42 billion or more than twice the offering.