Govt sells P9B worth of 10-yr. T-bonds at 5.485%

Government sold P9 billion worth of 10-year Treasury bonds during Tuesday’s auction, according to the Bureau of Treasury. Tenders totaled P41.790 billion, or more than four times the P9 billion programmed for the auction. The 10-year T-bonds fetched an average rate of 5.485 percent, down by 41.1 basis points from the previous average of 5.896 percent. The auction results may be traced to easing inflation and neutral policy stance of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), said National Treasurer Roberto Tan, referring to the last week’s decision by the BSP’s policy-setting Monetary Board to keep the benchmark rates unchanged. “It’s the same situation (like last week’s auction), reinforced by the policy stance of the BSP during the last Monetary Board meeting," Tan told reporters after the auction. At its policy meeting last week, monetary authorities kept the overnight borrowing rate steady at 4.5 percent and the overnight lending rate at 6.5 percent. Inflation eased at 4.3 percent in August from 4.6 percent in July. — VS, GMA News