P140B in T-bills, bonds up for grabs next month

The Bureau of the Treasury will sell P140 billion in government securities in the domestic debt market next month, including bonds with longer tenors, amid a low-interest rate environment.

In a Jan. 26 memorandum to all government securities eligible dealers (GSEDs), National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the Treasury would offer P20 billion in short-dated T-bills—P5 billion each in the benchmark 91-day and 182-day plus P10 billion in 364-day—on Feb. 1, 8, 15 and 22.

The Treasury would also sell P30 billion each in 10- and three-year IOUs on Feb. 2 and 16, respectively.

The total offering volume for February matched January’s program.

The Treasury not only exceeded its auction awards several times in January but also sold more through its tap facility window for the 11 market makers among the GSEDs.

While the monthly volume remained the same, De Leon noted the bond offerings in February had longer maturities.

De Leon said these lengthier tenors generated “very low yields, and investors may have appetite for yield pickup.”

The government had programmed to raise P2.58 trillion from the sale of treasury bills and bonds this year, accounting for 85 percent of the total gross borrowings of about P3.03 trillion by year-end.