T-bill, bond rates may be mixed on easing hopes

RATES of the Treasury bills (T-bills) and Treasury bonds (T-bonds) to be offered this week could end mixed in line with secondary market yields on expectations of monetary easing here and in the United States.

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The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will auction off P25 billion in T-bills on Monday, or P8.5 billion each in 91-day and 182-day securities and P8 billion in 364-day papers.

On Tuesday, the government will offer P30 billion in reissued seven-year T-bonds with a remaining life of four years and 10 months.

T-bill yields could go down while the T-bonds could fetch slightly higher rates in line with the week-on-week movements in secondary market rates amid the release of key economic data here and in the US that affected monetary easing bets, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

Mr. Ricafort said the August Philippine inflation data released on Friday could still support another rate cut by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) within the year despite picking up from the July print.

The spate of US labor data reported last week also bolstered expectations that the US Federal Reserve would deliver its first rate cut this year at its Sept. 16-17 meeting, he added.