Yields on T-bills rise on increased market appetite

MANILA, Philippines - Yields on 91-day Treasury bills rose as the market increased its appetite for short-term debt papers. Used for pricing loans, the benchmark government security fetched 6.122 percent during Monday’s auction at the Bureau of Treasury, the first such auction in six months. “Our last auction of a 91-day treasury bill was in July 7," National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said. “So it is expected that yield would increase. We just wanted to follow the market's done level." Some P2.5 billion of shorter-dated government securities were sold during Monday’s auction. Another P2.5 billion worth of one-year Treasury bills were auctioned off. However, bids for the one-year Treasury bill fell to 6.414 percent, indicating investors’ increased confidence that interest rates will fall over the short term. “The bids show the long horizon bidders are gaining more confidence than their short-dated counterparts," Department of Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said. Nevertheless, the mixed auction results indicate that investors remain confident that the macroeconomic environment will get better. “[This] means there is more monetary space within which both the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Finance (DOF) can work," Beltran said. Meanwhile, government borrowings were expected to go beyond P332.7 billion as previously programmed, officials said. Total domestic borrowings has reached P203.98 billion, covering the sale of treasury bills and bonds since July, Tan said. “We had more than [programmed levels] for defensive purposes... the reason why there was some additional borrowings, the reason is to beef up the cash position in any eventuality," said Tan. - GMANews.TV