Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields fell across the shorter maturities at Tuesday’s auction, with the full 140 billion rupees on offer sold, according to Public Debt Management Office data reported by EconomyNext.
The three-month bill fell 9 basis points to 9.86 percent. It drew the strongest demand of the three tenors, with 71.93 billion rupees accepted against 60 billion rupees offered.
The six-month bill eased 3 basis points to 10.21 percent, with the entire 50 billion rupees offered taken up.
The 12-month bill was unchanged at 10.20 percent. It was the only maturity to fall short of its offer, with 18.06 billion rupees accepted against 30 billion rupees available.
The pattern points to appetite concentrated at the short end of the curve. The overshoot on the three-month bill roughly offset the shortfall on the 12-month, allowing the auction to clear its full 140 billion rupee target. All three bills remain available on tap.
The Finance Ministry had announced on 23 July that 140 billion rupees of Treasury bills would be issued at the 28 July auction, matching the volume offered at the previous week’s auction on 22 July.
Treasury bill yields are a closely watched gauge of government borrowing costs and of banking-system liquidity. A decline at the short end, alongside a flat 12-month rate, leaves the near end of the yield curve slightly cheaper for the state to fund while longer money holds steady.
The auction result came the same day the rupee closed marginally stronger in the spot market and secondary-market bond yields edged up on selected tenors.
