BTr raises P1.06B from sale of benchmark 91-day T-bills

Yield on the 91-day Treasury bill rose to an average of 2.264 percent as investors continued to show preference for alternative notes with higher returns.

The resulting average is 37.5 basis points higher than the 1.889 percent set in the auction held two weeks ago.

However, Monday’s average was 3.3 basis points lower than the best bid in the secondary market, which averaged at 2.296 percent.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) awarded only P1.06 billion in benchmark bills, falling short of the P1.5 billion it offered.

Also, interest rates on the 182-day T-bill rose by 149.4 basis points to an average of 2.444 percent, while all tenders for the 364-day T-bill were rejected.

The average for the 182-day bill was 13.5 basis points lower than the prevailing best bids at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., which stood at 2.579 percent.

Even then, the BTr awarded only P500 million in six-month bills—far short of the P3.5 billion offered.

National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said the government was ready to accommodate more bids for the 182-day bill and even some for the 364-day bill, “but bids were quite off-market.”

“We thought that the bids for the 364-day bill were quite excessive in terms of yield being asked,” Tan said.

If the government had fully awarded its P4-billion offer on the yearlong bill, the average would have reached 2.925 percent, or 134.8 basis points higher than the previous 2.032 percent.

“Even if we tried to accept bids for the 364-day bill based on prevailing rates in the secondary market, the volume is too insignificant—just about P300 million,” Tan said.

The government raised a total of P1.56 billion, far less than the planned P9 billion.

Investors tendered a total of P12.19 billion.