Manila: The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that the average rate of the 10-year fixed-rate treasury note (FXTN) auctioned on Wednesday stood at 5.893 percent. The BTr had initially offered the debt paper for PHP300 billion but accepted only PHP107.07 billion out of the PHP328.47 billion tendered.

According to Philippines News Agency, National Treasurer Sharon Almanza stated that there are no plans to match last year's PHP300 billion issuance of the same paper. The decision to accept the lower amount is based on the government's funding requirement for the current and next quarter. Almanza mentioned that the issuance will complete part of the government's financing for the year, and they do not aim for the PHP300 billion mark.

Almanza further explained that the BTr will issue the FXTN only once this year as part of their consolidation of issuance strategy. The aim is to prevent fragmentation of the yield curve by not introducing new FXTN.

In addition to the new money component, a switch option will be available, allowing holders of previously-issued debt instruments to swap their current holdings for the latest issuance. The BTr announced on its website that it will not accept new money component anymore, given the strong demand during the first day of the public offer period, but will accept eligible bonds for swap until noon of February 20.

Eligible for the swap option are FXTN 05-77 due April 8, 2026, FXTN 03-29 due September 7, 2026, retail treasury bond (RTB) 10-05 due September 20, 2026, RTB 15-01 due October 20, 2026, and FXTN 03-30 due January 4, 2027. The government's borrowing program for the year is projected to reach PHP2.68 trillion, with a significant portion of PHP2.05 trillion sourced domestically and the remaining PHP627.1 billion from foreign fund sources.