Treasury raises P60 billion from T-bonds in February

MANILA, Philippines — The government raised P60 billion in long-term securities this month, short of target, as the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) focused on the retail treasury bonds (RTBs).

The BTr yesterday fully awarded P30 billion for the original issue of 20-year T-bonds at the last T-bonds auction for February.

T-bonds gained momentum anew after a quick full rejection two weeks ago.

The total amount raised from the auction of T-bonds this month reached P60 billion, about 67 percent of the target P90 billion to be borrowed from the local debt market.

The Treasury originally targeted P150 billion in T-bonds this month but it cancelled two auctions to give way to the third RTB issuance of the Marcos administration whose offer ended last week.

For 10 days of the RTB offer, the Treasury raised P584.86 billion, well above the P30 billion target.

Of the total, P212.72 billion was secured during the rate-setting auction and launch last Feb.13, while another P128.69 billion was raised in new money during the offer period.

The remaining P243.45 billion was from the swap offer for bonds expiring on March 9 and March 12.

During yesterday’s auction, the 20-year T-bonds fetched an average rate of 6.209 percent, down by 19.6 basis points from the 6.405 percent BVAL Reference Rate, which is the standard for securities.

Rates went from a low of six percent and a high of just 6.328 percent. The coupon rate is set at 6.25 percent.

Yesterday’s average rate was significantly lower than the 6.631 percent during the last 20-year T-bond auction on March 21, 2023.