Treasury bill auction swamped amid hostage drama

MANILA, Philippines – Investors swamped yesterday’s Treasury bill (T-bill) auction, ignoring a hostage-taking incident in Manila which involved a dismissed policeman and a bus of foreign tourists and their local guides.

Bid applications for yesterday’s auction hit P18.28 billion out of P8 billion worth of T-bills out for sale by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

The average rate for the 91-day paper declined on strong demand while yields for the 182-day and 364-day papers went up.

Deputy Treasurer Eduardo Mendiola said there is strong demand for the short-term papers since the government started reducing its issuance of papers with such tenors.

“We are slowly reducing our short-term papers and increasing our long-term papers,” Mendiola told reporters after the auction.

Rate for the 91-day T-bill stood at 3.936 percent, or 2.9 basis points lower than the previous rate of 3.965 percent.

Total tenders for this paper reached P4.870 billion, more than triple the P1.5 billion offered by the government’s auction committee.

On the other hand, the average rate of the 182-day T-bill reached 4.302 percent, higher than the previous rate of 4.263 percent or a difference of 3.9 basis points. For this tenor, investors tendered a total of P5.360 billion, out of the P3 billion offered by the auction panel.

Similarly, for the 364-day paper, the average rate rose to 4.562 percent, also higher than the previous rate of 4.516 percent, or an increase of 4.6 basis points.

Total bids amounted to P8.050 billion, out of the P3.5-billion offered by the government.

Mendiola said the BTr would continue reducing the amount of short-term papers it would offer in the fourth quarter as it shifts to debt papers with longer-term tenor as part of the government’s debt management strategy.

“Fourth quarter borrowings will likely be the same in the third quarter. It’s the same because that’s what the market expects,” Mendiola said.

He nonetheless said that borrowings in the fourth quarter may be reduced if the government pushes through with its plan to issue peso-denominated bonds in the fourth quarter of the year.

The Aquino administration wants to sell at least $500 million in peso-denominated global bonds before the end of the year as part of its liability management efforts. –Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star)