Gov't borrows partially amid high rates

Benchmark yields for short-term loans continued to increase, forcing the Bureau of the Treasury to borrow lower than planned. At Monday's auction of Treasury bills on May 2, the national government raised a total of P6.915 billion, well below the P15 billion program. Demand across the board reached P22.12 billion The 91-day Treasury bill rate increased to 6.000 percent from 5.869 percent last week. It was also higher than secondary market yield of 5.819 percent. The Treasury sold the P1.915 billion worth of three-month debt papers, lower than the P5 billion on offer. Investors were asking for P5.075 billion of the government security or IOU. Interest rate on the one-year IOU also inched up to 6.247 percent from 6.209 percent last week. It was also higher than the secondary’s 6.142 percent. The one-yield debt papers attracted P9.888 billion worth of bids, and the government accepted the  full P5 billion. Meanwhile, the government rejected bids for the 182-day T-bill after yields rose to 6.230 percent from the previous 5.812 percent. Investors were willing to buy P7.16 billion of the six-month IOUs.