Gov't borrowing costs down on policy pivot

The Marcos administration has successfully borrowed P22 billion through the sale of short-dated Treasury bills (T-bills) at slightly lower costs, backed by relatively stable demand driven by the continued effect of the latest key policy rate easing.

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During the latest T-bills auction on Monday, Oct. 20, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded its planned fundraising of P22 billion, with total bids reaching P97.17 billion—more than four times the amount of debt paper offered.

This week’s total bids were slightly lower than the 297.19 billion in tenders from the previous T-bill auction on Oct. 13.

The government fully awarded the P7 billion offering for 91-day T-bills. Total tenders reached P28.7 billion. The average rate was 4.884 percent, slightly higher than the 4.880 percent in the previous week.

For 182-day debt paper, the BTr raised P7.5 billion, fully awarding the offered amount. Bids reached P40.6 billion. It fetched an average rate of 5.058 percent, 1.4 basis points (bps) lower than last week’s 5.072 percent.

Lastly, the BTr borrowed the offered P7.5 billion through 364-day 10Us. Demand reached 27.9 billion. Similarly, the average rate dropped slightly by 2.2 bps to 5.097 percent from 5.119 percent in the previous auction.