Outstanding local IOUs hit high of P7.68T in August

Sustained reliance on domestic borrowings, especially bonds, further raised the amount of outstanding locally issued debt paper to a record P7.68 trillion as of August.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed that the face amount of outstanding treasury bills and bonds rose from P7.58 trillion in July.

Outstanding treasury bonds, whose auctions had been flocked by investors looking for long-term yields, climbed to P6.72 trillion in August from July’s P6.58 trillion.

On the other hand, outstanding T-bills further declined to P963.5 billion from P994.6 billion in July due to maturities of these short-dated IOUs across the three tenors.

As of August, the benchmark 91-day securities had an outstanding volume of P136 billion; 182-day, P228.4 billion; and 364-day, P599.1 billion.

Outstanding bonds included P252.5 billion in three-year; P401.8 billion in five-year; P774.1 billion in seven-year; and P901.6 billion in 10-year. Treasury data showed the face amount of seven- and 10-year bonds jumped compared to month-ago levels.

The outstanding amount for 10-year agrarian reform bonds was P7.8 billion; P475.2 billion in 20-year; P235.9 billion in 25-year bonds; and P97.1 billion from the $6.582-million Philippine Par Bond redenominated into 28.5 years.

Also outstanding were P2.5 trillion in retail treasury bonds (RTBs); P1.1 trillion in benchmark bonds; P50 billion in 25-year CB-BoL T-bonds; P24.9 billion in onshore dollar T-bond; and P6.6 billion in one-year “premyo” bonds.

Larger local borrowings reduced risks from foreign exchange. The reliance on fund-raising mainly from the sale of T-bills and bonds also took advantage of oozing domestic liquidity.

—Ben O. de Vera