T-bills could fetch mixed rates

RATES of Treasury bills (T-bills) on offer this week could move sideways as investors amid bets on further monetary easing by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) due to slower economic growth in the third quarter.

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The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will auction off P22 billion in T-bills on Monday, or P7 billion in 91-day securities and P7.5 billion each in 182and 364-day papers.

Yields on the short-term securities could be mixed or little changed, tracking secondary market movements as players priced in their bets on the BSP and US Federal Reserve's respective policy paths, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

Secondary market rates mostly went down week on week following the release of third-quarter Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) data. “Yields on government securities dropped by 5-8 (basis points) after a downward surprise in the third-quarter GDP data. Third-quarter growth slowed to a four-year low on corruption scandals,” a trader said.