Government to auction off P325 billion worth of securities in second quarter

The government is set to borrow P325 billion from the domestic capital market in the next quarter through government security auctions, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) announced on Tuesday, March 27.

In a memorandum posted on its Web site, the Treasury said it will auction off P195 billion of Treasury bills (T-bills) and P130 billion of Treasury bonds (T-bonds) in the second quarter of 2018.

The planned borrowing in the April-June period is higher than the P240 billion it offered in the first quarter and the P200 the Treasury placed on the auction block in the last quarter of 2017.

Treasury auctions will now be held twice a week in the second quarter, compared with the once-a-week offering in the January-March period. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal