Treasury upsizes T-bill award to P37.8 billion

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January 13, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The national government significantly expanded the offering of its short-term securities, raising the amount by 40 percent above the originally planned auction size, as the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) decided to double the acceptance of non-competitive bids from investors.

The BTr fully awarded its second Treasury bills (T-bills) offering for the year, upsizing the amount to P37.8 billion from the original target of P27 billion.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said local financial markets went up recently after President Marcos urged lawmakers to prioritize governance reforms, including the Anti-Dynasty Bill, Party-list System Reform and the Independent People’s Commission.

“Local financial market sentiment was also partly supported following some progress related to good governance such as the recent progress and developments on cases filed,” he said.

The 91-day short-term bills posted an average yield of 4.731 percent this week, reflecting a decline of seven basis points compared with the secondary market’s rate of 4.801 percent, pointing to a modest reduction in short-term government borrowing rates.

Meanwhile, the interest rates for the 182-day tenor averaged 4.85 percent this week, a slight decline from the previous week’s 4.895 percent. This level also stood six basis points below the market reference rate of 4.91 percent.

Yields averaged 4.916 percent for the 364-day T-bills, which is lower than last week’s average and 5.9 basis points below the secondary market rate.

A total of P12.6 billion was awarded for every tenor, higher than the P9 billion initially set.

Ricafort added that the central bank’s policy priority is to stimulate economic growth through monetary easing, including rate and reserve requirement cuts, aimed at lowering borrowing costs, boosting investment, employment and overall economic activity.

“This is in view of external risk factors such as higher Trump tariffs and trade wars or protectionist measures that slow down global economic growth and, indirectly, local economic growth. Thus, a delicate balancing act for all of the above factors,” he said.

The national government plans to borrow more than P800 billion from the domestic market in the first quarter of this year.

The treasury plans to auction P324 billion worth of T-bills, set at P108 billion each month.

Meanwhile, the government plans to raise as much as P500 billion from the issuance of T-bonds with maturities ranging from three to 25 years.