Treasury bill rates up for 10th straight week

MANILA, Philippines  —The government was able to borrow only P14.8 billion out of the P15 billion that it had hoped to raise from its auction of Treasury bills after rates sought by investors climbed for the 10th straight week.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that it did not raise the full amount even with total bids amounting to P35.8 billion, which was 2.4 times larger than the original size of the issuance.

This, after creditors demanded higher rates for the T-bills. Auction results showed the average yield for the 91-day paper stood at 5.710 percent, higher than 5.592 percent seen last week.

Meanwhile, the 182-day T-bill fetched an average rate of 5.971 percent, costlier than 5.927 percent recorded in the previous auction.

Investors asked an average yield of 6.085 percent for the 364-day securities, more expensive than the 6.079 percent charged for the same tenor last week.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the recent sale of Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs) gave the government flexibility to reject some of the excess demand for the T-bills.

The Marcos administration borrowed a “record” amount of P584.86 billion from small investors onshore during its 30th sale of RTBs, giving the government budgetary support for its projects and programs.

Ricafort also said yields for T-bills climbed anew after a hotter-than-expected US inflation dashed hopes for an early rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, a move that is widely expected to be matched locally. INQ