Gov’t IOUs hit P4.62T at end-October

As more short-dated IOUs were sold amid high inflation woes, total outstanding government-issued debt paper further rose to P4.62 trillion by the end of October, the latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.

The combined outstanding treasury bills and bonds as of end-October increased from P4.59 trillion in September.

Outstanding treasury bonds climbed to P4.16 trillion from P4.15 trillion a month ago.

Outstanding treasury bills also jumped to P461.8 billion from end-September’s P439.2 billion.

Of the outstanding T-bills, P99.5 billion were 91-day IOUs, P167.3 billion were 182-day debt paper and P194.9 billion were 364-day treasury bills.

Most investors had turned to short-dated treasury bills as the headline inflation rate hit an over nine-year high of 6.7 percent both in September and October, which brought market uncertainty on how the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will react, specifically on key interest rates, to temper high consumer prices.

So far this year, the BSP’s policy-making Monetary Board hiked the policy rate by 175 basis points to 4.75 percent.

Among the outstanding T-bonds, three-year IOUs amounted to P94.9 billion; five-year debt paper, P231.5 billion; seven-year treasury bonds, P536.8 billion; and 10-year T-bonds, P391.5 billion.

The outstanding 10-year agrarian reform bonds have reached P8.5 billion; 20-year IOUs, P336.6 billion; and 25-year debt paper, P235.9 billion.

Of the $6.582-million Philippine Par Bond redenominated into 28.5 years, the amount stood at P97.1 million.

Outstanding retail treasury bonds totaled P1.3 trillion.

Benchmark bonds reached P909.3 billion in benchmark bonds; 25-year CB-BoL T-bonds, P50 billion; and onshore dollar T-bond, P26.8 billion. —BEN O. DE VERA