THE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) rejected all bids for the P15-billion Treasury Bills (T-Bills) it tendered yesterday as bid rates remain elevated making them “untenable,” the National Treasurer said.
Despite the lackluster results, National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the Treasury remains in a “good position” to reject offers given the government’s “revenue outperformance.”
“Full rejection for all tenors: rates offered are untenable even after considering aggressive statements from both Fed [US Federal Reserve and BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas],” De Leon told reporters after the October 3 auction. “BTr [is] still in [a] good position to make [a] rejection with revenue outperformance.”
The Treasury noted that Monday’s auction was undersubscribed as it only attracted P14.2 billion in total tenders against the P15-billion offering. The BTr offered P5 billion worth each of the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day T-bills.
BTr data showed that only the tender for the 91-day T-Bills exceeded the amount offered as total bids reached P5.78 billion, slightly higher than the P5 billion offered. Bids for the 182-day T-bills and the 364-day T-bills were below the total amount offered at P4.78 billion and P3.678 billion, respectively.
Rates were higher across the board for Monday’s auction, with 91-day bill rates hitting an average rate of 4.66 percent if fully awarded from the 4.397 percent in the previous week’s auction.
For the 182-day bills, rates hit 4.902 percent from the 3.958 percent in the previous week while the 364-day bill rates hit 4.937 percent if fully awarded from the 4.888 percent in the previous week.
The rates during the Monday auction were higher than the Bloomberg Valuation (BVAL) Service Reference Rates: 3.153 percent for 91-day, 3.842 percent for 182-day and 3.902 percent for 364-day tenor.
This month, the Philippine government aims to raise P200 billion from debt papers. The amount covers P60 billion worth of Treasury bills and P140 billion-worth of Treasury bonds to be auctioned off next month.
Last week, De Leon said the program is calibrated to meet the funding requirements of the national government “against current market backdrop.”
This year, the government is set to borrow a total of P2.21 trillion, of which 75 percent will be sourced locally while the remaining 25 percent will come from foreign sources.