Govt rejects bids for 182-day T-bills on high rates

The government has rejected all bids for 182-day treasury bills (T-bills) on Monday, saying they were too high and beyond secondary market levels. The Bureau of the Treasury, however, reported that it has accepted tenders for the 91-day and 364-day bills. The average rate for the 182-day debt paper would have climbed to 3.708 percent from 2.444 percent, forcing government to turn down the bids. “For the 182-day paper, there were uncertainties on the part of investors and the volume tendered was very small," National Treasurer Roberto Tan told reporters after the auction. The average rate of the 91-day paper, meanwhile, was 2.880 percent from 2.888 percent, while the rate for the 364-day debt paper jumped to 3.219 percent from a previous rate of 2.911 percent. Total tenders for the 91-day debt amounted to P5.140 billion, giving the Treasury a chance to make a full award of the P1.5 billion offered to investors. The government, however, awarded only a portion of the 354-day papers, selling only P2.026 billion of P4 billion that was on offer. Thus, government was able to sell only P3.526 billion worth of debt during Monday's auction, below the programmed offer of P9 billion. For the second quarter of 2011, the government has programmed P117 billion in T-bills and T-bonds to be offered to investors, or P3 billion higher than the programmed debt sale in the first quarter. Tan said the Treasury is already studying the volume and tenor of the borrowing program for the next quarter. —JMT/VS, GMA News