Government makes partial award of T-bonds

The government made a partial award of fresh five-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday, March 6, as investors sought higher returns.

At its auction on Tuesday, the Bureau of the Treasury raised P12.039 billion out of the planned P20-billion borrowing from the fresh bonds maturing on March 3, 2023.

Total tenders reached P25.884 billion, more than the amount the government wanted to raise.

The five-year bonds fetched a coupon rate of 5.5% with an average rate of 5.452%, 87.5 basis points higher than the 4.53% average rate fetched during the recent retail Treasury bonds offering in November.

Had the government made a full award of the bonds, the coupon rate would have climbed to 5.75%.

At the secondary market on Tuesday before the auction, the 20-year papers were quoted at 5.309%. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal