THE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) rejected bids for the 35-day treasury bills auctioned yesterday as it fetched higher-than-secondary market rates.
The BTr said tenders for the P15 billion auction reached P29.6 billion.
However, had a full award been made, the average rate for the five-week issuance would have been 3.39 percent, 29.2 basis points higher than the secondary market rate of 3.098 percent.
“(We have) plenty of ammo, that’s why we rejected,” Rosalia de Leon, national treasurer, said after the auction through Viber yesterday.
Asked how the government is addressing the extraordinary funding requirements for the coronavirus disease 2019 response, de Leon said: “We have measures identified for this as outlined in Bayanihan Act.”
The BTr also rejected all bids for the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day treasury bills auctioned Monday as rates rose sharply across all tenors.
De Leon earlier said the 35-day paper “should be appealing and put (investors’) money to work.”
“Very short maturity so funds will be available when needed. There is still opportunity cost for holding to cash,” she said last Monday.
