T-bill yields climb for 7th straight week

Yields on short-term government securities climbed for a seventh straight week as investors weighed the possibility of another interest rate hike despite slower-than-expected inflation in May.

Auction results of Monday’s Treasury bill (T-bill) sale showed the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P56 billion, falling short of its P60-billion offering.

The partial award came despite total demand reaching P81.98 billion or about 1.3 times the amount on offer.

The 91-day T-bill yield rose to 5.188 percent from 5.143 percent in the previous auction, marking its highest level in nine months.

Meanwhile, the yield on the 182-day paper reversed two straight weeks of declines, climbing to 5.679 percent from 5.624 percent.

The yield on the longer-dated 364-day debt note inched down to 6.267 percent from 6.269 percent previously, although it remained near its highest level in more than two years.

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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is scheduled to hold its next policy meeting on June 18, with economists expecting the central bank to maintain a tightening bias as it continues to monitor inflation risks.

For June, the final month of the second quarter, the BTr is looking to raise up to P128 billion from the domestic market. With Monday’s auction, it has already secured P96 billion.

For 2026, the government plans to borrow P2.68 trillion, with P2.05 trillion to be sourced domestically and P627.1 billion from external creditors. The borrowing program is intended to help finance a P1.6-trillion budget deficit and push the country’s outstanding debt stock beyond P19 trillion by year-end.