91-day treasury bill rate down 31.5 points
The yield on the benchmark 91-day treasury bill fell further by 31.5 basis points to an average of 1.495 percent as investors showed renewed interest in short-term securities.
However, the results for the longer-term debt paper were mixed, with the yield on the 182-day bill falling 32.2 basis points to 1.795 percent while that on the 364-day bill rose by 14.3 basis points to 2.422 percent.
The Bureau of the Treasury raised only P7.1 billion instead of the planned P7.5 billion, given the partial award of the yearlong debt paper.
National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said the average rate on the 364-day bill rose “mainly due to a narrower range of bids.”
Had the BTr awarded fully the offered P4 billion in yearlong security, the yield would have gone up by 16.4 basis points to 2.443 percent.
“The economic fundamentals are good and there is ample liquidity for short-term placements (such as the T-bills),” Tan said, explaining Monday’s auction results.
“There is room to increase domestic borrowings because the liquidity is there, but there’s no change in the borrowing program,” he added.
Tenders for the 91-day bill reached P5.77 billion or more than five times the P1 billion offered.
Bids for the 182-day bill totaled P10.6 billion, or more than four times the P2.5-billion offer, while those for the 364-day bill reached P4.93 billion, also showing an oversubscription.
In June, DBS Group of Singapore said the yields on long-term Philippine debt paper were no longer expected to average lower this year compared to that in 2011 considering that the developments in Europe were making domestic liquidity conditions more uncertain.
