Yield on benchmark 91-day T-bills drops

The yield on the benchmark 91-day Treasury bill fell by 18.3 basis points to average at 2.09 percent amid mixed results from the latest auction on Aug. 1.

On the other hand, apparently in tune with a policy rate hike that the Monetary Board announced two weeks ago, interest rates on the 182-day and 36-day T-bills went up.

On Monday, the yield on the six-month T-bill rose by 4.5 bps to average at 3.188 percent. The same went for the year-long T-bill, by 12.4 bps to average at 3.48 percent.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised a total of P15 billion as planned, with P5 billion from each tenor.

Oversubscribed

Investors tendered a total of P43.3 billion or almost three times the total offered volume.

For the benchmark bill alone, tenders reached P24.07 billion, close to five times the P5-billion offer.

Lenders made available P12.94 billion for the 182-day bill, more than twice the offer. Investors offered a total of P6.293 billion for the 364-day bill.

Monday’s auction was part of a P215-billion domestic borrowing program that BTr has slated for August.

Borrowings through T-bills total at P75 billion or P15 billion for every three-tenor auction.

Also, the government plans to raise a total of P240 billion from offerings of 3.5-year, seven-year, 10-year and 5.5-year Treasury bonds.

The August domestic borrowing program, in turn, is part of the P2.2-trillion intended borrowing program for 2022.

Three-quarters of this year’s borrowing plan will be done through the offering of T-bills and T-bonds.

Further, this year’s borrowings are expected to further raise the national government’s debt stocks to a new record of P13.4 trillion, representing about 62 percent of the domestic economy.

—RONNEL W. DOMINGO INQ
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