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THE
Bureau of Treasury (BTr) yesterday awarded in full the
re-issued five-year treasury bond worth P7 billion at an
average rate of 8.495 percent as demand for longer-term
securities picked up.
The debt
paper fetched P15.7 billion in total tenders against the
original offer. The bids went as high as 8.590 percent
and as low as 8.375 percent. The bonds are redeemable on
March 3, 2013.
Finance
Undersecretary Roberto Tan said the average was
“aligned” to the secondary market rate for the five-year
bond at 8.78 percent.
The
issue was last offered on May 6, 2008, but all bids
totaling 8.39 billion were rejected when dealers went as
high as 8.5 percent.
In an
offer made on March 11, the bureau took a portion of the
tenders and fetched an average rate of 6.568 percent.
Tan said
the government intends to borrow P35 billion more from
the domestic debt market this year.
He said
demand has picked up since banks are turning once more
to higher-yielding government securities, rather than
the special-deposit facility of the central bank.
The
special-deposit facility carries a yield of 5.0625
percent for seven days, 5.1875 percent for one month and
5.125 percent for 14 days.
A bond
trader in
Manila agreed, saying the market is “factoring in” on the higher
yields from the five-year instrument.
“The
rates are attractive. Most banks are shifting their
funds [to longer-term government securities] from the
[special deposit facility of the Bangko Sentral],” the
trader added. |
