T-bill rates rise across the board

The Bureau of the Treasury sold only P13.4 billion in treasury bills Monday as rates rose across the board.

The Treasury awarded P3.4 billion out of the P6 billion in benchmark 91-day IOUs offered at an average rate of 5.786 percent, up from 5.716 percent last week.

It also sold P4.9 billion in 182-day treasury bills out of the P6-billion offering at 5.987 percent, up from 5.936 percent previously.

As for the 364-day T-bills, P5.1 billion were awarded out of the P8 billion offered at an annual rate of 6.038 percent, up from 6.018 percent.

“Market demand cooled off after the settlement of the RTBs (retail treasury bonds) last week, with total tenders amounting to P24.9 billion—just slightly above the P20-billion offer,” the Treasury said in a statement.

Treasury sold P235.9 billion in five-year RTBs this month at a coupon of 6.25 percent.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters after the auction that the Treasury partially awarded the T-bills “given that we don’t see the need for any significant increase in the rates,” citing for instance that in the case of 91-day IOUs, investors sought yields that were almost 15-basis points higher than secondary rates.

De Leon noted decelerating inflation, such that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was expected to keep key interest rates steady when the Monetary Board tackles monetary policy on Thursday.