Investors demanded an increase in the yield of short-term T-bills

The national government failed to raise its target of 15 billion pesos as an auction of treasury bills (Treasury bills) on Monday produced mixed results after investors sought higher yields on short-term debt.

The Bureau of the Treasury Auction Committee (BTR) decided to grant bids for 364-day Treasury bills in full, but only partially awarded the sale of 91-day and 182-day securities.

National Treasurer Rosalia W. De Leon said the auction committee had made a decision to “ensure that bids are in the middle.”

Through the decision of the auction commission, the Treasury has successfully borrowed a total of 12.837 billion pesos out of its target amount of 15 billion pesos.

This is the fourth week in a row that the national government has not been able to fully collect the planned amount from the sale of treasury bills.

The Treasury has awarded 3.781 billion pesos of the total bids for the 91-day Treasury bill of 6.091 billion pesos. Bonds received an average rate of 4.664 percent, with a range from a low of 4.57 percent to a high of 4.75 percent.

For the 182-day bond, the Treasury raised 4.056 billion pesos at an average rate of 5.437 percent. The total number of applications for debt securities reached 7.816 billion pesos.

Meanwhile, the 364-day treasury bill has fully attracted 5 billion pesos. Bond subscriptions were oversubscribed by 1.54 times, and the total number of offers reached 7.722 billion pesos.

The average rate on 364-day Treasury bills settled at 5.717 percent, with investors offering yields ranging from 5.69 percent to a high of 5.775 percent.

“The auction was oversubscribed by 1.4 times, the total amount of bidding amounted to 21.6 billion pesos. By its decision, the committee raised 12.8 billion pesos out of a total offer of 15.0 billion pesos,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.