MANILA, Philippines — The government barely raised half of its target long-term securities yesterday as rates picked up, allowing it to borrow only P11.5 billion from the debt market.
The Bureau of the Treasury awarded P11.5 billion out of the P30 billion for the reissued 20-year T-bonds with a remaining life of 14 years and eight months.
During yesterday’s auction, the 15-year T-bonds fetched an average rate of 6.95 percent, up by five basis points from the 6.9 percent BVAL Reference Rate, the standard for securities.
Rates went from a low of 6.88 percent and a high of 6.994 percent. It was also above the original coupon rate of 6.75 percent.
Nonetheless, yesterday’s average rate was lower than the 6.987 percent during the last 15-year T-bond auction on April 16.
At the time, the government rejected all bids from investors.
Demand for yesterday’s securities only attracted P36.7 billion bids, barely oversubscribing the auction by 1.2 times.
Bids slightly went down by two percent from the last 15-year auction when offers reached P37.555 billion.
The latest offering has a maturity date of Jan. 24, 2039.
For May, the Treasury targets to borrow P210 billion from domestic creditors.
Of this, P150 billion is expected to come from long-term T-bonds. It has so far raised P68.97 billion.