Average rates for Treasury bills (T-bills) were mixed at Monday’s auction, as market participants anticipated that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is unlikely to resume monetary policy easing after the US Federal Reserve’s decision to hold rates steady.
Despite this, the Bureau of the Treasury increased the amount of T-bills issued, taking advantage of oversubscription. Total bids reached P67.2 billion, exceeding the initial offer of P22 billion. The auction committee accepted a total of P28 billion, up from the original amount, and increased the issuance of both six- and 12-month T-bills.
The yield on the 91-day paper rose to 5.157 percent, up from 5.118 percent at last week’s auction. Similarly, the average rate on the 182-day bill increased to 5.554 percent from the previous week’s 5.496 percent.
However, comments from the BSP indicating that it still plans to ease monetary policy this year kept the yield on the 364-day bill on a downward trajectory, settling at 5.681 percent, down from 5.697 percent.
The BSP is scheduled to hold its monetary policy meeting on 3 April.
