Gov’t makes full award of T-bills offered as yields drift sideways

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon / INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Bureau of the Treasury on Monday raised P15 billion from the sale of short-dated T-bills as rates moved sideways on expectations of slightly above-target inflation this year.

The Treasury fully awarded the P5-billion offering for each of the three tenors.

The average rate for the benchmark 91-day treasury bills inched up to 1.066 percent from 1.064 percent last week.

The 182-day debt paper remained at 1.407 percent.

The annual rate for the 364-day IOUs, meanwhile, declined to 1.617 percent from 1.625 percent previously.

In a statement, the Treasury said these rates were all below secondary market trading levels.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said yields were settling at these levels alongside market expectations of 4 to 4.1-percent full-year inflation.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last week hiked its inflation forecast for 2021 to 4.1 percent from 4 percent previously, citing upward pressures to global oil and commodity prices.

De Leon also pointed to robust investor demand due to strong domestic liquidity. The Treasury received a total of P53.28 billion in tenders, making the auction thrice oversubscribed.

For 2021, the government had programmed P3.03 trillion in gross borrowings, of which P2.58 trillion will be sourced from the local debt market through the sale of treasury bills and bonds. Locally sourced financing not only flushed liquidity from the domestic financial system but also tempered foreign exchange risks.

This year’s borrowings will further hike the national government’s outstanding debt to a record-high P11.55 trillion. INQ