MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 28-day bill auction was oversubscribed on Friday but rate of the debt paper posted an uptick tracking the path of the central bank’s key rates.
Data released by the central bank showed that the average rate of the bill rose to 6.4707 percent from 6.3800 percent during the auction last Feb. 10.
The BSP lowered the offer to PHP140 billion from last week’s PHP170 billion.
Tenders reached PHP202.364 billion and the auction committee made a full award.
In a statement, BSP Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila Jr. said yields accepted during the bill auction this week “shifted higher and widened to a range of 6.3250-6.5985 percent.”
“The results of the BSP bill auction were reflective of strong demand from market participants following the BSP’s latest policy decision to raise its key policy rate by 50 bps. Looking ahead, the BSP’s monetary operations will continue to be guided by its assessment of the prevailing liquidity conditions and market developments,” he said.
BSP’s policy-making Monetary Board (MB) on Thursday hiked for the eighth consecutive rate setting meeting the central bank’s key rates after noting the lingering elevated inflation rate in the domestic economy and expectations that risks remain on the upside given the higher prices of food and several commodities both here and overseas due in part to supply-side factors. (PNA)
