Short-term benchmark interest rates dipped as global oil prices eased.
At the Bureau of the Treasury’s auction on Monday, April 11, the yield on three-month papers, which banks use in pricing their loans, dropped to 1.250 percent from the 1.380 percent fetched during the previous week.
The government accepted P7 billion of the total tenders as demand for the 91-day Treasury bills reaching P32.734 billion during the auction of the debt papers. The bureau originally planned to borrow only P5 billion.
Yield on the 182-day T-bill also fell to 1.555 percent from the previous 1.781 percent as investors were willing to buy P27.5 billion of the six-month IOUs. The government accepted P7 billion, P2 billion more than the P5 billion program.
Moreover, interest rates on the 364-day debt notes declined to 1.857 percent from the previous 1.883 percent with total tenders amounting to P11.02 billion, P5 billion of which were accepted by the government as planned.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the government decided to upsize its offer owing to lower interest rates and health bid across all tenors.
“Markets flocked to short term as oil prices ease with release of reserves from stockpile. Maturities also added support for reinvestment,” de Leon told reporters after the auction.