Yield of 35-day T-bills rises to 1.163%

Even the rate of the shortest treasury bill tenor being offered by the Bureau of the Treasury inched up on Tuesday as investors awaited the central bank’s interest rate decision.

The Treasury fully awarded the P15 billion in 35-day IOUs at an average rate of 1.163 percent, up from the record low 1.157 percent fetched two weeks ago.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said that in general, bid rates were flat because the market expected the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep key rates steady when its policy-making Monetary Board meets on Thursday.

Tenders for the five-week debt paper amounted to P29.3 billion, making the auction almost twice oversubscribed.

De Leon attributed the favorable demand to the P118 billion in maturing government securities that allowed investors to snap up new debt.

Despite the huge bids, De Leon said the Treasury did not sell additional 35-day bills via the tap facility window.

On Monday, the Treasury awarded another P900 million in 364-day bills at 1.745 percent via the tap facility.

The Treasury had wanted to sell P5 billion more of the one-year securities but bids fell short, allowing it to award the total amount tendered by the 11 government securities eligible dealers. INQ