T-bill rates climb for 3rd straight week

The government sold P15 billion of short-term debt, as targeted, on Monday’s auction of Treasury bills (T-bills) despite interest rates rising for the third straight week.

Creditors placed total bids amounting to P44.84 billion, exceeding the Bureau of the Treasury’s offering size.

But the robust appetite did not stop rates from rising again. Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said rates rose as markets remained wary of tensions in the Middle East and the possibility of a later rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.

“Treasury bill average auction yields were slightly higher for the third straight week … after more hawkish signals from some Fed and other local monetary officials recently,” Ricafort said.

Yields also climbed week-on-week “in view of the conflict between Israel-Iran/proxies recently that increased tensions in the Middle East,” he added.

According to the Treasury, the 91-day T-bill fetched an average rate of 5.888 percent, higher than the 5.870 percent recorded in the previous auction.

Similarly, lenders demanded an average yield of 6.002 percent for the 182-day debt securities, up from 5.973 percent last week.