Treasury bill (T-bills) rates dropped across- the-board on Monday and helped the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) award in full T-bills with rates below secondary market benchmarks.
The BTr offered a total of P20-billion T-bills at the auction on Monday—its first T-bill sale for 2016.
The debt paper auction was more than twice oversubscribed and attracted P43.5 billion worth of tenders.
For the 91-day T-bills, the rate dropped 15.2 basis points to 1.684 percent, from the previous auction of the same tenor in December 2015 when the rate stood at 1.836 percent.
The debt paper was offered at P8 billion, with total tenders amounting to P16.262 billion.
The rate for 182-day T-bills also fell by 20.1 basis points to 1.642 percent, from 1.843 percent at its previous auction date.
The 364-day debt paper’s rate settled at 1.740 percent from 1.952 percent in an auction last month, a decline of 21.2 basis points.
The 182- and 364-day T-bills were both offered at P6 billion with tenders, amounting to P16.755 billion and P10.605 billion, respectively.
“Auction results reveal strong preference for the short-dated securities despite thin market activity at the short-end of the curve and downside regional growth and currency risks,” the Treasury bureau said.