91-day T-bill rate at 1.249%

The yield on the benchmark 91-day treasury bills eased further by 20.3 basis points to an average 1.249 percent as Monday’s auction showed mixed results.

The result for the benchmark bills was also 12.6 basis points lower compared to the prevailing 1.375-percent average for done deals at the Philippine Exchange and Dealing Corp. floor.

The yield on the six-month bills rose 4.2 basis points to 1.713 percent while that for the yearlong securities increased by 9.5 basis points to 2.22 percent.

In the secondary market, the prevailing rate for the 182-day bills was 3.8 basis points lower at 1.675 percent and for the 364-day paper, 7.5 basis points lower at 2.145 percent.

The Bureau of the Treasury raised a total of P7.5 billion as planned. Investors tendered P18.72 billion, or more than twice the amount on offer.

National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said in an interview that the auction committee was a little concerned about the results for the 364-day bills, although these were apparently signs that the market was correcting.

“The volumes (of bids) are quite robust, that’s the reason why we are open to accept (fully instead of a partial award for the yearlong bill),” Tan said.

Tenders for the 91-day bills reached P5.3 billion, or more than five times the P1 billion on offer. Bids for the 182-day paper totaled P6.2 billion, or more than twice the P2.5 billion being sold, while those for the 364-day securities reached P7.17 billion, almost twice the P4 billion being auctioned.

Tan added that the planned issuance of retail treasury bonds (RTBs) would most probably take place in the fourth quarter, going ahead of another planned bond swap.

“If we could do it (bond swap) after the RTBsm, then we do it. If not, we’ll do it next year,” he said.

In August, Deputy Treasurer Eduardo Mendiola said the Treasury was considering to issue 25-year RTBs in October or November and was expecting to offer more than P60 billion.

Mendiola said the Treasury would offer just one maturity of RTBs to make the exercise less complicated. On the other hand, he said the debt swap would involve all tenors across the yield curve—including 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years.