Manila: The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded bids for Treasury bills (T-bills) at slightly elevated rates during Monday’s auction. The 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day T-bills recorded average rates of 5.647 percent, 5.882 percent, and 5.905 percent, respectively.

According to Philippines News Agency, these rates represent a slight increase from last week’s rates of 5.631 percent for the 91-day, 5.862 percent for the 182-day, and 5.871 percent for the 364-day T-bills. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort noted that the T-bill auction yields rose for the eighth consecutive week. The increase is attributed to a potential rise in headline inflation due to recent storms and a weaker peso exchange rate, which could lead to higher importation costs and overall inflation.

The auction attracted considerable interest, being 3.1 times oversubscribed, with PHP47.2 billion in total tenders. With this outcome, the BTr successfully raised the full program amount of PHP15 billion for
the auction.