Average rates of treasury bills rose marginally at the auction Monday, correcting from recent softening on expectations the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will soon ease monetary policy settings.
With the yield increase only minimal, the National Treasury awarded the entire offered amount of P20 billion.
Total tenders reached P47.4 billion, with bids almost evenly distributed among the three-, six- and 12-month treasury bills. Offer amounts are P6.5 billion for the 91- and 182-day treasury bills and P7 billion for the 364-day debt paper.
Yield on the 91-day bill rose to 5.743 percent from 5.717 percent while that on the 182-day paper inched up to 5.991 percent from 5.978 percent previously. Average rate on the 364-day bill rose to 6.081 percent from 6.072 percent.
The BSP is scheduled to hold its next policy meeting on Aug. 15, a week after data on July inflation are released. Further softening in the inflation rate could finally spur the central bank to cut its closely-watched interest rate.
