T-bill rates rise across the board

Treasury bills rates inched up across the board on Monday after monetary authorities paused from easing.

The Bureau of the Treasury nonetheless fully awarded P20 billion in short-dated securities as the three tenors generated bids totaling P50.2 billion, making the auction more than 2.5 times oversubscribed.

The Treasury sold P5 billion in the benchmark 91-day bills at an average of 1.131 percent, up from 1.118 percent last week.

It also awarded P5 billion in 182-day debt paper at 1.407 percent, up from 1.388 percent previously.

The P10 billion in 364-day IOUs fetched an annual rate of 1.751 percent, up from 1.745 percent during the previous auction.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the “very insignificant” rate increases were expected as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) kept key rates steady last week.

In a statement, the Treasury noted that the average rates were also below those in the secondary market.

Moving forward, De Leon said treasury bills rates could move “sideways or a tad higher” while the BSP paused from monetary easing to support a COVID-19-battered domestic economy. —Ben O. de Vera INQ