BTr rejects all bids for P50B of debt papers B J E Y. A @jearcalas
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HE national government was unable to raise a single centavo after the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) rejected all the offers in its twin auction on Wednesday of P50 billion worth of government securities as investors continue to be aggressive in their asking rates. The Treasury did not award a single debt paper as investors sought interest rates that were higher by as much as 169.7 basis points (bps) than prevailing secondary benchmark rates. The Treasury auctioned P15 billion worth of Treasury bills (Tbills)—P5 billion each of 90-day,
181-day and 362-day tenors—and P35-billion Treasury bonds (Tbonds). National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said investors sought higher yields in anticipation of a hike in interest rate by the US Federal Reserve coupled with the Central Bank’s announcement on the country’s October inflation print. Foreign news agencies reported that the Fed is expected to deliver a 75-basis-point rate hike in its November meeting. De Leon told reporters after the auction that the market has been pricing in excessive buffers to cover for the Fed’s “sustained hawkish actions and BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] forecast of [October] inflation [of] 7.1 [percent] to 7.9
[percent].” Rates for the T-bond offering averaged at 6.763 percent with a range of as low as 6 percent to as high as 8 percent. The secondary benchmark rate for the similar debt paper was only at 6.303 percent. Treasury received rates ranging between 4.25 percent and 5.125 percent for its 90-day T-bill, 4.65 percent to 5.925 percent for the 181-day tenor and 5 percent to 6.3 percent for the 362-day government security. The secondary benchmark rates for the government securities based on Bloomberg Valuation were at 3.75 percent (90-day), 4.535 percent (181-day) and 4.888 percent (362-day).
Investors swamped the 90-day T-bill offering as total tenders amounted to P8.485 billion while the 181-day tenor was almost fully subscribed at P4.93 billion. The 362-day T-bill fetched tenders amounting to a little more than half of the total intended amount to be raised or about P2.67 billion. As for the T-bonds auction, investors tendered a total amount of P36.336 billion. The national government has been laboring to tap the local debt market in the past month as investors continue to dig their heels in their position vis-à-vis yields. This month alone, the national C A
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DTI: Prices ‘generally stable’ after storm Paeng
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@caiordinario
HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) assured the public that its arsenal to intervene in the foreign exchange market is much larger than the country’s reserves. The country’s Gross International Reserves (GIR) includes Overseas Filipino remittances, business process outsourcing, and foreign direct investments. Under its expanded toolkit which is also in line with the central bank’s price stability mandate, the BSP is now employing the reserves to sell dollars to help manage foreign-exchange movements. “The tools that we can use for intervention are much larger than our reserves,” Central Bank Governor Felipe M. Medalla said. The central bank chief also explained that while the GIR now represents lower import cover compared with earlier months, BSP may tap other sources of dollars. As a matter of policy, the BSP’s C A
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MOBILITY HELL Commuters returning to the streets from a long weekend, on a day coinciding with the return of face-to-face classes in public schools, suffered a double whammy on Sunday morning. Above, commuters
are left with no choice but to endure the long queues stretching on both sides of Edsa at the Bus Carousel Kamuning Station in Quezon City, as the MRT suspends its operations early Wednesday morning due to “abnormal signaling indication,” the Department of Transportation said. Across town, a Philippine National Railway train was derailed in Sta. Mesa, Manila, depriving hundreds of precious commuting space. NONOY LACZA
HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the prices and supply of basic necessities and prime commodities are “generally stable” based on its latest nationwide situational report. “The prices and supply of basic necessities and prime commodities are generally stable based on the latest nationwide situational report,” Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said in a statement on Wednesday. In a statement on Wednesday, the Trade department said it ensures the submission of daily situational monitoring reports from its provincial and regional offices following the onslaught of severe tropical storm “Paeng.” As chairman of the National Price Coordinating Council, the Trade department said it is coordinating with the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers which is composed of manufacturers and retailers of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPC), to guarantee “timely and constant replenishment of goods” particularly in the typhoon-stricken areas. Hence, the agency said it has been “continuously conducting intensified monitoring of prices and S “DTI,” A
Taberna case vs bank an acid test for new law
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ROADCASTER-ENTREPRENEUR Anthony Taberna continues to hold out hope for a just resolution of his case against EastWest Bank, which he accused before the central bank of allowing unauthorized fund transfers— a total of P15.38 million—to the former finance officer of the successful food business he had built up for years. The Taberna case is seen as an acid test of the regulators’ will to strictly enforce the newly minted Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act, which regulators like Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission, had actively prodded the 18th Congress to pass, citing the over 40,000
complaints of financial consumers between 2019 and 2021. Taberna earlier pressed the BSP to act on his administrative complaint against EastWest and Gualberto Baluyut, the manager of its UP Village branch, for allowing Ernie Patrick Aquino, his former finance officer, to siphon off millions without his knowledge and consent in a series of unauthorized fund transfers between August 2018 and November 2020. This was apparently done because, as Taberna alleged in his complaint-affidavit, Aquino—after convincing Taberna to open a payroll account with the UP Village Branch for Taberna Foods under EastWest’s e-credit facility—was able to open seven other bank ac-
counts under Taberna Foods. This, without submitting to the bank a secretary’s certificate or board resolution. “Baluyut allowed the opening of all the accounts notwithstanding the fact that they pertained to different branches of Ka Tunying’s Café throughout Luzon. Despite lack of authority and supporting documents, Baluyut allowed the operning of these accounts in clear violation of existing banking regulations,” Taberna said, referring to the EastWest manager. A subsequent review indicated that many transfers were made on random dates that were outside payroll periods, even though it was a payroll facility. As finance officer, Aquino, stressed Taberna, had no
authority to approve fund transfers beyond payroll payments. Baluyut in his counteraffidavit denied all of Taberna’s allegations, insisting that he got to know Aquino only when the latter approached him about opening the payroll account, contrary to Taberna’s claim that Aquino persuaded him to open the account because he knew the branch manager well. Taberna said earlier the bank was included in the complaint at BSP because it never informed the client-company about the apparent irregularity. The administrative complaint Taberna filed is handled by the Consumer Protection and Market C A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 58.0470 ■ JAPAN 0.3916 ■ UK 66.6960 ■ HK 7.3951 ■ SINGAPORE 41.0284 ■ AUSTRALIA 37.1036 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.4483 ■ EU 57.3388 ■ KOREA 0.0410 ■ CHINA 7.9724
Source: BSP (November 2, 2022)