The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has been unable to borrow a total of P65 billion so far in March — including P15 billion in T-bills on Monday (March 7)— as rates sought by domestic creditors further rose across-the-board after tensions at the Ukrainian-Russian border erupted into a full-blown war.
The BTr rejected all bids for P5-billion each in short-dated debt paper across the three tenors as National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said that “markets continue to ask for higher risk premium with deterioration in market sentiment.”
In particular, De Leon said developments which pushed bid rates up included the escalating war between Ukraine and Russia, a weaker peso, and expectations of higher inflation, especially amid skyrocketing global oil prices.
She cited upward pressures due to the forthcoming US Federal Reserve rate hike expected this month, plus global inflation risks spilling over from the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
From January to February, the BOC’s tax take totaled P117.5 billion, up from P94.5 billion a year ago as well as higher than the P100.7-billion collections in the first two months of 2019, pre-pandemic.
The BOC’s end-February revenues accounted for 17.3 percent of its P679-billion full-year target for 2022, which Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero had said would be achievable.
Expensive oil would also bloat the BOC’s import bill and, in turn, the taxes to be collected from such shipments. (©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2022 / Ben O. de Vera)
