MANILA – The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded bids for the 91-day and 182-day Treasury bills in Monday’s auction, while only partially awarding the 364-day security amid mixed market demand and slightly higher yields.

The 91-day and 182-day T-bills fetched average rates of 4.558 percent and 4.737 percent, respectively. In response to strong demand, the auction committee doubled the non-competitive bids for both tenors to PHP9.6 billion and PHP7.2 billion.

Demand for the 91-day paper reached PHP36.9 billion, with the government accepting PHP16.8 billion, exceeding the PHP12-billion initial offer.

For the 182-day T-bills, total tenders amounted to PHP23.2 billion, with PHP12.6 billion awarded—also above its PHP12-billion program.

Meanwhile, the 364-day T-bills were partially awarded at PHP8.2 billion, with an average rate of 5.184 percent.

In comparison, last week’s auction saw lower average yields of 4.542 percent for the 91-day, 4.649 percent for the 182-day, and 5.052 percent for the 364-day securities.

“Treasury bill average auction yields mostly corrected slightly higher after the latest +0.25 [basis points] Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rate hike to 4.50% and signals of future BSP rate hike,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said.

Overall, the committee raised PHP37.6 billion, above the PHP30-billion program for the auction. (PNA)