THE Bureau of the Treasury fully awarded P15 billion in Treasury Bills (T-bills) despite a rise in rates across all tenors.
The auction was thrice oversubscribed as total tenders reached P45.7 billion against the offer.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said they did not open the tap facility.
BusinessMirror’s query on the factors that led to rates to pick up remained unanswered as the story went to press. But a bond trader told the BusinessMirror the uptick in rates was caused by the “general risk aversion across asset classes on the weakening peso.”
Last Monday, T-bill rates also moved slightly higher as the peso breached P50 against the greenback.
The local tender on Friday closed at P50.235 to the dollar, among the weakest rate in 13 months or since June 15, 2020, when it closed at P50.345, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael Ricafort earlier said.
The 91-day T-bills fetched an average rate of P1.082 percent, up by 1.4 basis points from 1.068 percent in the previous auction. Total bids for the security amounted to P17.05 billion, more than triple the P5-billion offering.
For the 182-day T-bills, the average rate inched up by 1.7 basis points to 1.401 percent from 1.384 percent previously. Investors’ bids on the debt paper hit P15.88 billion; triple the P5-billion offer.
The 364-day T-bills’ average rate also climbed to 1.629 percent, jumping by 3.6 basis points from 1.593 percent in the last auction. The tenor attracted P12.8 billion in total tenders, also twice above the P5-billion offer.
For July, the Treasury has set to borrow P235 billion from the local debt market, slightly bigger than the P215 billion it programmed in June.
The national government programmed borrowing is at P3.1-trillion, the bulk of which is expected to be raised through domestic sources.
As of end-May, the national government’s outstanding debt has already ballooned to a record P11.07 trillion, up by 13 percent from P9.795 trillion as of end-2020.