NG debt costs drop to three-month low

Domestic investors snapped up the government’s short-term securities this week, allowing the Marcos Jr. administration to add P25 billion to its debt pile, with borrowing costs nearly at their lowest in three months.

- By DERCO ROSAL

During the latest Treasury bills (T-bills) auction on Monday, Sept. 15, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded its planned fundraising, with total bids reaching P151.2 billion—more than six times the amount of debt paper offered.

However, this week’s total bids were slightly lower than the P156.4 billion in tenders from the previous week’s T-bill auction.

The government fully awarded the P8.5-billion offering for 91-day T-bills. Total tenders reached P47.9 billion, and the securities fetched an average rate of 4.95 percent, 9.6-basis-point (bp) lower than last week’s rate of 5.046 percent.

For 182-day debt papers, the BTr raised P8.5 billion, fully awarding the offered amount. Bids reached P53.9 billion, while the average rate settled at 5.148 percent, 7-4-bp lower than the previous week’s 5.222 percent.