The national government failed to raise its P15 billion desired amount as an auction of Treasury bills (T-bills) on Monday yielded mixed results as investors sought higher yields for short-term notes.
The auction committee for the State Treasury Bureau (BTr) decided to fully bid for the 364-day T-bills but only provide a partial sale of the 91-day and 182-day securities.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the auction committee made the decision to “make sure prices are within the secondary level.”
With the bidding committee's decision, the Ministry of Finance succeeded in borrowing a total of P12.837 billion of its target amount of P15 billion.
It is now the fourth week in a row that the national government has been unable to fully raise its desired amount from the sale of T-bills.
The Ministry of Finance awarded P3.781 billion of the total offering of P6.091 billion for 91-day T-bills. Paper debt takes an average rate of 4.664 percent with a low range of 4.57 percent to a high of 4.75 percent.
For the 182-day notes, the Treasury collected P4.056 billion, which represents an average rate of 5.437 percent. The total offer for notes reached P7.816 billion.
Meanwhile, the 364-day T-bill raised a full P5 billion. Debt securities were oversubscribed by 1.54 times because the total supply reached P7.722 billion.
The average rate for a 364-day T-bill settled at 5.717 percent with investors bidding for yields as low as 5.69 percent to as high as 5.775 percent.
“The auction was 1.4 times oversubscribed, attracting P21.6 billion from the total tender. By its decision, the committee raised P12.8 billion out of a total bid of P15.0 billion,” the Ministry of Finance said.