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MANILA – The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded bids for the Treasury bills (T-bills) in Monday's auction.
The 91-, 182-, and 364-day T-bills fetched average rates of 5.744 percent, 5.916 percent and 6.033 percent, respectively.
The T-bills' average rates was lower compared to the 5.772 percent, 5.966 percent, and 6.087 percent average auction yield of the 91-,182-, and 364-day T-bills.
"It is interesting to note that T-bill average auction yields are now slightly lower vs. comparable short-term BVAL (Bloomberg Valuation Service) yields as of March 15, 2024. [The] 3-month [BVAL was at] at 5.77 percent; 6-month at 5.96 percent; 1-year at 6.02 percent," Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said in a comment.
Ricafort said T-bill average auction yields were also further below the comparable Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) short-term interest rates.
The overnight policy rate is at 6.50 percent while the overnight rate average auction rate is at 6.5018 percent.
The BSP 28-day and 56-day securities average auction yields are currently at 6.7 percent levels.
"The markets would be anticipating the upcoming Fed(eral Reserve) rate-setting meeting and decision, as well as the updated Fed dot plot, as source of new market leads on March 20, 2024," Ricafort said.
The auction was 3.2 times oversubscribed, attracting PHP47.2 billion in total tenders.
The BTr raised the full program of PHP15 billion for the auction. (PNA)
