T-bill rates fall across the board

Treasury bill rates further fell across the board on Monday on the back of strong demand for government securities amid flush domestic liquidity.

In all, the Bureau of the Treasury awarded P22 billion in short-term debt paper, bigger than its P20-billion offering as it doubled the noncompetitive bids accepted for the six-month IOUs.

The rate for the benchmark 91-day bills stayed below 1 percent and eased to 0.977 percent during Monday’s auction from 0.987 percent last week, allowing the Treasury to award the P5 billion on offer.

The P7 billion in 182-day bills fetched an average rate of 1.36 percent, down from 1.369 percent previously.

The Treasury also sold P10 billion in 364-day securities at an annual rate of 1.605 percent, down from 1.614 percent.

All these rates were also below prevailing yields in the secondary market.

Across the three tenors, tenders totaled P86.7 billion, making the auction 4.3 times oversubscribed.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon attributed the downward trend in rates to “abundant” liquidity.

De Leon added that the auction results showed investors preferring the front end of the yield curve.

The Treasury opened its tap facility window to sell another P5 billion in one-year debt to the 11 government securities eligible dealers (GSEDs)-market makers. —Ben O. de Vera INQ