T-bill rates drop across all tenors amid bets on further BSP easing

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the Treasury bills (T-bills) it offered on Tuesday as yields went down across all tenors on expectations of more rate cuts from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as economic growth hit an over four-year low in the third quarter.

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The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P22 billion as planned from the T-bills it auctioned off as the offer was over four times oversubscribed, with total bids reaching P98.311 billion. However, this was slightly lower than the P99.095 billion in tenders recorded at last week’s auction.

The Auction Committee made a full award of the T-bills as all tenors fetched average rates that were lower than those quoted during the previous week's offering and at the secondary market, the BTr said ina statement.

Broken down, the Treasury borrowed P7 billion as planned via the 91-day T-bills as total tenor were at P33.06 billion. The average rate of the six-month T-bill declined by 4.5 bps to 4.981% from 5.026% previously. Bids awarded carried yields from 4.963% to 5.022%.

Lastly, the government raised P7.5 billion as planned via the 364-day debt as the tenor drew demand amounting to P32.321 billion. The average rate of the one-year T-bill was at 5.054%, decreased by 4.5 bps from the 5.099% fetched last week. Accepted rates ranged from 5.043% to 5.063%.