Treasury awards P25B in T-bills; rates inch up

The Bureau of the Treasury awarded all P25 billion in treasury bills it offered on Monday even as rates went sideways due to bigger demand for the short end of the curve.

The Treasury sold P5 billion in the benchmark 91-day debt paper at an average rate of 1.349 percent, up from 1.325 percent last week.

It also sold P8 billion in 182-day treasury bills at a higher 1.713 percent from 1.695 percent previously.

On the other hand, the P12 billion in 364-day IOUs fetched an annual rate of 1.884 percent, down from 1.903 percent.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said rates of the three- and six-month securities were rising as they had more demand.

With a lower rate, the Treasury will sell another P5 billion of the one-year T-bills to the 11 government securities eligible dealers-market makers through the tap facility window.

Monday’s auction was nearly thrice oversubscribed as it attracted a total of P71.7 billion in bids across the three tenors.

Elevated inflation did not dampen investor demand for government securities even as the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) flagged risks from normalizing global oil prices.

“On the external front, the government needs to remain vigilant to developments in the international oil market amid tight international supply and recovery in global demand,” Neda said in a report on Monday, citing that oil-producing countries had “remained committed to lowering the overall crude oil production.”

Neda cited that Dubai crude oil future prices rose to $61.2 per barrel as of April 1, even as they were projected to end the year at a lower $57.6 per barrel. INQ