Philippine gov’t holds back on T-bills anew

The national government maintained a cautious borrowing stance at the start of the second quarter. It raised less than the planned amount due to rising yields amid the Middle East war and ahead of fresh inflation data.

Auction results showed the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P22.8 billion in Monday’s sale of Treasury bills (T-bills). This fell short of the P27-billion offering.

Still, the auction was 1.9 times oversubscribed, with total tenders reaching P50.2 billion. However, the government has been awarding partially since the start of the war to manage borrowing costs.

The BTr fully awarded the 91- and 182-day bills at P9 billion each.

This was offset by a partial award of the 364-day paper, with only P4.8 billion accepted.

Yields were mixed but generally higher. Only the 91-day bill declined for the first time in a month — to 4.985 percent from 5.004 percent in the previous auction.

The 182-day paper rose to 5.08 percent from 5.032 percent. The 364-day tenor climbed to 5.204 percent from 5.166 percent.

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“Treasury bill average auction yields mostly went up for the fifth straight week since the war on Iran started, and ahead of the release of the latest local inflation data that could rise due to high global crude oil prices,” said Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Ricafort added that with fears of a prolonged war, the Marcos administration might continue to borrow less than planned as long as bid yields remain elevated.

For the second quarter, the BTr plans to borrow from domestic lenders a total of P784 billion. This includes P364 billion in Treasury bills and P420 billion in Treasury bonds.