To hedge against virus jolt, investors pick T-bills

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon / INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P10 billion in T-bills it offered on Monday, aided by market preference for short-term debt amid uncertainties wrought by COVID-19’s newest Omicron strain.

The Treasury sold P2 billion in the benchmark 92-day IOUs at an average rate of 1.155 percent, which was down from 1.164 percent last week.

It also awarded P3 billion in 183-day securities at 1.443 percent, down from 1.449 percent previously.

The 365-day treasury bills, meanwhile, fetched a higher annual rate of 1.643 percent from 1.636 percent during the previous auction.

The BTr usually settles bids two days after auction, which in this case will fall on Dec. 8, a holiday. BTr will instead settle today, Dec. 7, thus the change in tenors.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said the “bias” continued to be on the short end due to the emergence of Omicron as a variant of concern, which some economists flagged as a potential spoiler to the economic reopening.

De Leon also said T-bill rates moved sideways ahead of the release of November inflation data today. Majority of the economists polled by the Inquirer last week projected headline inflation to have returned within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2 to 4 percent target band.

In an email on Monday, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd. economist Zamros Dzulkafli said the Malaysian financial giant was expecting November inflation at 3.8 percent year-on-year.

Dzulkafli said the lower print was a result of base effects from the jump in inflation in November of last year. INQ