Treasury bill yields declined at Monday’s auction as investors shifted focus back to short-term debt following the auction of five-year retail treasury bonds last week, and amid growing anticipation of potential monetary policy easing.
Total bids reached P94.9 billion, nearly four times the P25 billion on offer, and higher than the previous week’s total tenders of P87.3 billion.
The yield on the benchmark 91-day T-bill fell to 5.287 percent from 5.318 percent last week. The average rate for the 182-day tenor eased to 5.506 percent from 5.535 percent, while the 364-day T-bill saw its yield slip to 5.612 percent from 5.637 percent in the previous auction.
Analysts attributed the strong demand and declining rates to renewed expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve during its mid-September policy meeting. Weaker-than-expected jobs data in the United States has strengthened the case for a rate cut.
A Fed rate cut could pave the way for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to follow suit, particularly with domestic inflation slowing to a fresh six-year low of 0.9 percent in July.
Investors are positioning ahead of potential rate adjustments, favoring shorter maturities while waiting for clearer policy signals both globally and locally.
