The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P30 billion from five-year reissued Treasury bonds (T-bonds) on Wednesday as investors anticipated the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to ease its policy rate next week.
The BTr said the bonds attracted total bids amounting to P80.7 billion or a 2.7 times oversubscription.
The reissued bonds fetched an average rate of 5.908 percent, lower than the 6.019 percent recorded for the comparable bond last 4 March.
The latest rate was also lower than the 6.02 percent seen in the secondary market for a similar bond tenor last month.
Manulife Investment Management Philippines head of fixed income Jean Olivia de Castro said the BSP might cut its policy rate for lenders by 25 basis points to 5.5 percent in its Monetary Board meeting on 10 April.
She said this will signal resilient economic growth, driven by manageable inflation and minimal impact on the domestic debt market from Trump’s tariffs on Canadian, Chinese, and Mexican goods into the United States.
“Given the Philippines’ reliance on domestic consumption, the impact of US trade policies should be less than in countries with a more open economy,” De Castro said.