Government sells P7.5-billion T-bills

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) successfully sold yesterday P7.5 billion worth of 91, 182 and 365-day Treasury bills (T-bills) in an auction as investors’ bids were within expectations and the auction committee found the volume of offers meaningful.

National Treasurer Roberto Tan said there was no reason to reject the bids for all three tenors, unlike in previous auctions, noting that investors are again willing to park their funds in government debt papers.

He said this followed the release of the fiscal position in the first quarter of the year, which was wider than the budget gap incurred in the same period last year.

During yesterday’s auction, the yield on the 91-day T-bill slipped to 2.174 percent from 2.494 percent or a decline of 32 basis points. Investors tendered P5.620 billion for the paper, more than double the programmed debt sale of P2 billion.

Similarly, the average rate of the 182-day T-bill fell to 2.258 percent from 2.4 percent previously or a decline of 14.2 basis points.

For this paper, total bids amounted to P6.540 billion, more than thrice the programmed offer of P2 billion for the debt paper.

The 365-day T-bill, meanwhile, had a yield of 2.584 percent from 2.6 percent previously or a decline of 1.6 basis points.

Total tenders reached P6.7 billion or almost double the P3.5 billion which the Treasury offered to investors.

With the high level of bids, the government’s auction committee was able to sell all P7.5 billion that it had programmed to sell in yesterday’s auction.

“We are pleased with the auction results,” Tan said.

He said this had to do with the latest fiscal report released by the government.

 “Most of the economic indicators are positive including inflation and fiscal performance with respect to the deficit,” Tan said.

According to the latest data from the Department of Finance, the government incurred a budget deficit of P33.909 billion in the first quarter of the year, way below the programmed ceiling of P82.808 billion for the period but wider than the budget gap incurred in the comparable period in 2011.

The latest data showed that while spending has improved, the government has yet to meet its expenditures program for the quarter.

In the first quarter of 2011, the government incurred a deficit of P26.197 billion.

In March alone, the government’s budget deficit stood at P28.621 billion, also wider than the P18.131-billion budget gap incurred in the same month in 2011.