The Philippine central bank fully awarded P60 billion short-term securities it offered on Friday due to strong liquidity.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) fully awarded the 28-day bills from tenders worth P88.9 billion, making the auction 1.48 times oversubscribed, it said in a statement posted on its website.
This marked the ninth straight week that the central bank made a full award of the debt papers it offers since it started issuing its own securities in mid-September.
The bills fetched an average yield of 1.9621%, which slid by 3.01 basis points (bps) from the auction last week. The rates accepted during the auction ranged from 1.875% to 2%, which was wider.
“The results of the BSP bill auction continue to show ample liquidity in the financial system,” central bank Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila, Jr. said in the statement. “The BSP’s monetary operations will continue to be guided by its assessment of market developments and liquidity conditions going forward.”
The strong liquidity was supported by central bank policy measures meant to boost the market and the economy amid a coronavirus pandemic, Robert Dan J. Roces, chief economist at Security Bank Corp. said in a Viber message. — Beatrice M. Laforga