THE preference for cash as the holidays approach, as well as the recent policy rate hike implemented by the Monetary Board caused the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Term Deposit Facility (TDF) to be undersubscribed.
On Tuesday, the BSP accepted P232.469 billion of the P233.469 billion tenders it received for the TDFs. The BSP awarded P110.737 billion from P111.737 billion bids in the 8-day tenor and accepted all bids received in the 15-day tenor amounting to P121.732 billion.
The total offer volume was allocated between the 8-day and 15-day tenors at P180 billion from P200 billion and P150 billion from P160 billion, respectively.
“The results of the TDF auction continue to reflect the pass-through of the recent BSP policy rate hike. In addition, the undersubscriptions could be attributed to eligible counterparties’ increased preference for cash in preparation for the holidays,” BSP Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila Jr. said.
“Going forward, the BSP’s monetary operations will remain guided by its assessment of the latest liquidity conditions and market developments,” he added.
The resulting weighted average interest rates (WAIR) for the awarded bids in both tenors continued to rise from last week.
The WAIR for the 8-day TDF increased by 25.9370 basis points (bps) to 5.7514 percent, while that for the 15-day TDF rose by 20.2688 bps to 5.8662 percent.
The yields accepted likewise shifted higher, but narrowed to a range of 5.4900-6.0250 percent in the 8-day tenor and 5.6000-6.1750 percent in the 15-day tenor.
Earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) decision to hike interest rates due to the recent policy action of the US Federal Reserve may temper the country’s growth prospects, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and local economists.
The recent decision of the Monetary Board to raise interest rates by 75 basis points increased the BSP’s overnight repurchase facility rate to 5 percent from 4.25 percent.
BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said in light of the 75 basis points (bps) increase in US interest rates, the Monetary Board will match the policy action of the US Federal Reserve in its upcoming policy rate setting on November 17. (Full story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/11/03/bsp-to-increase-interest-rates-by-75bps/).###
Image credits: Nonie Reyes