There was strong demand for the auction of 28-day Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) securities last Friday as bids were 1.72x oversubscribed, according to BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila Jr.
The BSP bills also fetched a higher yield of 1.6683 percent from the previous 1.6402 percent.
Tenders received by the BSP totaled P154.90 billion versus offer of P90 billion. The previous auction which was on February 15 (February 12, a Friday, was the Chinese New Year holiday), the offer was higher at P100 billion but it was slightly undersubscribed at P99.05 billion. The bid coverage ratio was at 1.7211, an improvement from the previous 0.9905, indicating strong demand for the BSP bills.
The P90 billion offer was fully awarded in the 28-day BSP bills auction, said Dakila.
“The weighted average interest rate settled higher by 2.811 bps (basis points) to 1.6683 percent. The accepted yields were slightly higher and narrower compared to the previous auction, ranging 1.620 to 1.725 percent,” he added. In the Monday auction, yields accepted ranged from 1.603 to 2.000 percent.
Dakila again noted that the auction results showed a “general search for yields among market participants”. These same investors were also taking up the Bureau of the Treasury’s Retail Treasury Bonds (RTB). “Nevertheless, liquidity in the financial system remains ample,” he said.
Dakila has said that the market prefers shorter tenors with the scheduled RTB settlement on March 9.