Treasury bill rates rise; P15B raised

Bureau of the Treasury

MANILA, Philippines — The government was able to raise the full P15 billion sought from short-term debt securities during Monday’s auction that yielded mixed results ahead of the release of inflation data.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the auction attracted P44 billion in offers, nearly three times the original size of the issuance.

According to the BTr, the 91-day T-bill fetched an average rate of 5.698 percent, lower than 5.719 percent in the previous auction. The yield on the 182-day debt paper, however, stood at 5.904 percent, a bit more expensive than the 5.886 percent last week.

Meanwhile, the 364-day T-bill fetched a rate of 6.046 percent, a bit higher than the 6.043 percent previously as investors await the release of the May inflation data on June 5.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said T-bill rates were “slightly higher” as market players await the inflation data for May.

“Treasury bill average auction yields again corrected slightly higher for the second straight week ahead of the latest local inflation data for the month of May that is expected to be slightly faster,” Ricafort said in a Viber message sent to reporters.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas expects the May inflation rate to settle within the 3.7 to 4.5 percent target range, mainly due to higher electricity rates and agricultural prices and the weakening of the local currency against the dollar.

The government is looking to raise P195 billion from the local market via T-bills and P390 billion from Treasury bonds.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to cover for its budget deficit. —Mariedel Irish U. Catilogo INQ