The Department of Finance (DOF) said the national government remains in good cash position despite recent failed domestic borrowings owing to high interest rates.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said Tuesday, March 8, that cash flow is not yet a problem for the government owing to P457.8 billion proceeds from the sale of five-year retail treasury bonds (RTBs).
“The government is well positioned to meet disbursements despite BTr's rejections during auctions,” Dominguez told reporters in a mobile message.
Last March 1, the Treasury bureau completed its new RTB sale that fetched a coupon rate of 4.875 percent. The government raised P457.4 billion in new money from the sale.
On Tuesday's auction, March 8, the national government rejected anew all bids for the seven-year Treasury bond as investors sought higher returns for buying those securities.
Tenders for the T-bond on offer reached P36.306 billion, slightly higher than the planned P35 billion. The debt papers carried a coupon rate of 6.5 percent.
“Markets are still roiled by rising inflation fears from surge in oil and commodity prices. Verdict in US Federal Reserve rate hike is also awaited,” de Leon told reporters.
This marked the fourth offering that the Treasury bureau turned down bids for the debt papers due to high interest rates. The last time the government had successful auctions were on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, 2022.
“We are in good position to meet disbursements even after rejections with proceeds of strong RTB 27 outcome,” de Leon said.
In a related development, Dominguez said that they are closely watching developments abroad for the government’s maiden green bond launch.
“We are watchful the markets very carefully,” Dominguez told reporters when asked about the possible effect of the Russia-Ukraine war on overseas interest rates.
Last Feb. 17, Dominguez disclosed that they were in talks with banks on its $500-million green bond offering this year as it assesses the appropriate tenor.
“We are discussing with various banks the appropriate structure for our maiden ESG (environmental, social, and governance) offering, including size and tenor as well as looking at window of opportunity in different currency markets,” Dominguez said.
Monday night, Dominguez told President Duterte that the Eastern Europe conflict will likely cause a surge in borrowing cost, which was already expected to go up even prior to the crisis because of the US Federal Reserve’s tightening of monetary policy.