Philippines to borrow less in Q2 , says Treasury Bureau

Given its strong cash position from last month’s sale of retail Treasury bonds, the Philippine government has trimmed the amount of borrowing on program this second quarter.

 

Government plans to borrow P106.5 billion this second quarter by selling P52.5 billion worth of Treasury bills and P54 billion of Treasury bonds, the Philippines’ Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a notice Friday.

 

The first quarter borrowing program was P117 billion.

 

The BTr trimmed the amount of regular T-bill auctions to P7.5 billion a week from P9 billion, by lowering the 91-day paper to P2 billion from P2.5 billion and the 182-day paper to P2 billion from P3 billion.

 

The amount of 364-day bills for the weekly auction was retained at PP3.5 billion.

 

National Treasurer Roberto Tan said earlier this week the bureau took into consideration government’s strong cash position in coming up with the borrowing program for the second quarter.

 

The P179.9 billion worth of retail Treasury bills sold last month gave government enough cash, according to the national treasurer.

 

The BTr also kept the amount of T-bonds at P9 billion per auction, including the five-, seven, 10- and 15-year bonds. — VS, GMA News