National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon
MANILA – The country’s Treasury bills (T-bills) rates declined anew on Monday on deceleration of domestic inflation rate.
The average rate of the 91-day paper slipped to 0.875 percent, the 182-day to 1.097 percent, and the 364-day to 1.415 percent.
These were at 0.969 percent, 1.121 percent, and 1.468 percent for the three-month, six-month, and one-year paper during the auction last January 10.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) made full awards of PHP5 billion across-the-board.
Total tenders for the 91-day T-bill reached PHP27.499 billion while it amounted to PHP26.376 billion for the six-month paper and PHP23.8 billion for the one-year paper.
“Rates declined with inflation slowing and heavy bias on short tenors as Fed (Federal Reserve) (is) ready to start rate liftoff,” National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon told journalists in a Viber message.
To date, the Fed Fund rate is between zero to 0.25 percent and these are expected to be increased as early as March this year as the rate of price increases in the US continue to rise.
De Leon said the unwinding of easy monetary policies has been anticipated “more so now in the US with higher inflation.”
“Again, (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) Gov(ernor) (Benjamin Diokno) has reassured that econ(omic) recovery will be supported,” she added.
Diokno has committed to keep the BSP’s key policy rates at its current record-low level of 2 percent as long as necessary to help support the Philippine economy’s recovery. (PNA)
