THE Bureau of Treasury fully awarded P15 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills) in its auction on Monday.
Data from the Treasury showed that the auction was about three times oversubscribed, with total tenders hitting P46.5594 billion in total.
The bills also fetched higher rates during the Monday auction.
According to National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon, the market reacted to both local and international developments, resulting in higher rates during the auction.
De Leon told reporters that expectations on the Federal Reserve’s unwinding of accommodative monetary stance pushed rates higher. Locally, the market expects high inflation to be temporary, given the slower inflation in September.
Earlier this year, the Fed said that the US economy has made progress towards its goals of price stability and maximum employment and may start hiking its rates soon.
Philippine inflation, meanwhile, hit 4.8 percent in September this year. While this is still above the annual target range of 2 to 4 percent, it is a deceleration from the 4.9 percent print in the previous month.
Analysts also said this lower inflation in September has given the BSP more space to keep its record-low monetary policy rates accommodative to support the recovery of the local economy.
The 91-day T-bills’ average rate was at 1.095 percent, rising by 10 basis points from the 1.085 percent from the previous auction. Total tenders for the tenor, meanwhile, was lower at P11.37 billion from the P13 billion.
Meanwhile, the 182-day T-bills fetched an average rate of 1.391 percent, unchanged from its level in the previous week. Bids for the security were also lower at P18.364 billion from P22.42 billion.
As for the 364-day T-bills, the average rate stood at 1.587 percent, higher than the 1.584 percent in the previous auction.
The debt paper registered P16.86 billion, also lower than the P20.93 billion in the previous action.