The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded bids for the double-tenor treasury bonds auctioned on Wednesday, marked by high demand for the government securities, particularly the shorter-term IOUs.
Combined demand for the two tenors reached P91.812 billion, more than twice oversubscribed, enabling the BTr to raise P40 billion as programmed.
The BTr awarded P15 billion to the reissued three-year bonds, which have a remaining life of two years and 11 months, as demand grew to P63.922 billion.
The three-year bonds fetched a rate of 5.703 percent, lower than the Bloomberg Valuation (BVAL) Service rate of 5.79 percent.
Meanwhile, the reissued 20-year paper, with a remaining life of 19 years and 13 days, was fully awarded at P25 billion, with tenders amounting to P27.89 billion.
The 20-year securities saw an average rate of 6.486 percent, higher than the BVAL rate of 6.25 percent.
John Paolo Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said the auction results reflect a cautious market leaning toward shorter tenors amid expectations of easing but lingering global and local uncertainties.
“The strong demand for three-year bonds is consistent with a defensive positioning by investors, while the higher rate on the 20-year reflects premium demand for long-term risk compensation,” he said.
Earlier this month, the BTr, together with the Department of Finance, shared plans with the overseas Filipino community in Milan, Italy, for the upcoming launch of GBonds in the GCash app.
The plan aims to enable users to invest in government securities directly from their mobile devices, wherever they are.
“We are in partnership with GCash, and soon this year, we are hoping we will be able to issue retail treasury bonds (RTBs). Hopefully, by the time we issue the RTBs, the GBonds are already available, so this can be done via GCash,” National Treasurer Sharon Almanza said in a recording of the seminar shared by the DOF via social media on Tuesday.
