Benchmark interest rates move sideways
By CHINO S. LEYCO
The short-term benchmark interest rates move sideways.
At Monday's auction of Treasury bills on Oct. 25, the bellwether 91-day T-bill rate, which banks use in pricing their loans, slightly rose to 1.119 percent from 1.113 percent previously.
The Bureau of the Treasury sold the P5 billion worth of three-month debt papers on offer. Investors however were asking for P9.3 billion more of the government security or IOU.
Yield on the 364-day T-bill also inched up to 1.606 percent from the previous 1.604 percent as investors were willing to buy P11.22 billion of the one-year IOUs. The government only accepted P5 billion as planned.
Interest rate on the 182-day T-bill, on the other hand, eased to 1.387 percent from the previous 1.390 percent with total tenders for the six-month paper amounting to P14.2 billion, of which the government accepted only P5 billion.
The Treasury bureau did not open its tap facility.
“Interest rates moved sideways with good demand for short-term with supply capped at P15 billion,” National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters after the auction.