Short-term rates move sideways

Short-term rates move sideways

Short-term benchmark interest rates moved sideways amid excess liquidity in the financial market.

At a Bureau of the Treasury auction on Monday, Feb. 7, the bellwether 91-day Treasury bill rate, which banks use in pricing their loans, inched up to 0.710 percent from 0.691 percent previously.

The Treasury bureau sold the P5 billion worth of three-month debt papers on offer. Investors however were asking for P14.73 billion more of the government security or IOU.

The 182-day T-bill rate, meanwhile, slightly dropped to 1.022 percent from 1.023 percent a week ago, as the government borrowed P5 billion from the sale of the six-month debt papers, even as investors were willing to lend as much as P21.46 billion.

On the other hand, the yield on the one-year IOU was unchanged at 1.408 percent from last week’s level, with total tenders amounting to P17.56 billion, of which the government accepted P5 million as planned.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the bureau made a dull award for all tenors without any additional accepted offers.

“Liquidity further boosted with P20 billion maturities seeking their home,” de Leon told reporters after the auction.