THE national government made a full award of Treasury bills (T-bills) last Monday despite the continuous uptick in average auction yields for the third straight week.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) successfully raised P5 billion each from the sale of 91-day T-bills, 182-day tenor, and 364-day government securities, which totaled P15 billion.
“With its decision, the Committee raised the full program of P15.0 billion for the auction,” the Treasury said in a statement.
The total amount rendered per tenor was P13.100 billion for the 91-day, P15.980 billion for the 182-day, and P15.760 billion for the 364-day T-bills.
The auction was 3.0 times oversubscribed, with total demands reaching P44.8 billion across the board, according to the Treasury.
For the 91-day T-bills, investors’ average yield slightly increased to 5.888 percent, versus the previous tender’s 5.870 percent. Bids for the 91-day T-bills inched up, ranging from 5.845 percent to 5.920 percent.
The 181-day T-bills saw its yield averaging at 6.002 percent compared to last auction’s 5.973 percent. The government security rates were between 5.985 percent and 6.024 percent.
Investors’ average rate for the 364-day T-bills, meanwhile, was at 6.080 percent with a yield range of 6.055 percent to 6.090 percent. T-bills’ yields averaged 6.044 percent in the Treasury’s previous tender last April 15.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the higher average auction yields are similar to the week-on-week slight increase in most comparable short-term PHP BVAL yield.
This, after geopolitical risks recently given the conflict between Israel and Iran recently that increased tensions in the Middle East, Ricafort added.
“[The] offsetting positive factor [would be the] seasonal increase in tax revenue collections in April that could help increase the national government’s cash position,” said the RCBC executive.
This could help improve the fiscal position in terms of a narrower budget deficit or could even lead to a possible budget surplus for the month, added Ricafort.
Last week, the government borrowed a total of P15 billion from the auction of T-bills.
This April, the national government aims to raise as much as P75 billion from the sale of T-bills. It is also targeting to raise P195 billion this month from the combined sale of T-bills and Treasury bonds (T-bonds).
The state also aims to borrow, following a 75:25 mix in favor of domestic sources, a total of P1.853 trillion from the domestic market through the sale of T-bills and T-bonds this year, based on state budget documents.
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