Investors flocking to ‘safe havens’: Treasury sells P30 billion in T-bonds

The Bureau of the Treasury on Tuesday (May 12) sold P30 billion in three-year T-bonds amid robust demand for long-term securities.

The bonds with a remaining life of two years and 11 months were awarded at an average rate of 2.946 percent.

Tenders reached P99.109 billion, making the auction over three times oversubscribed.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon attributed the strong demand to “search for yields, so appetite now stretched to longer than one year with low inflation.”

Headline inflation during the first four months averaged 2.6 percent, within the government’s 2-4 percent target range.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) had even projected the rate of increase in prices of basic commodities to end the year within a lower range of 1.75-3.75 percent.

De Leon added that “liquidity remains strong, and investors continue to flock to safe havens.”

The Treasury opened its tap facility window to sell another P15 billion of the IOUs maturing on April 21, 2023 to 11 accredited securities dealers.

Last Monday (May 10), the Treasury sold P4 billion of the 364-day T-bills auctioned off via tap, although the bids were below the P10-billion additional offering.

Edited by TSB