Sri Lanka’s Public Debt Management Office sold an additional Rs3,510 million of Treasury bills on the tap window after Wednesday’s regular auction, bringing the total of bills sold this week to Rs75,254 million.
The tap sale comprised a 3-month bill at an average yield of 10.09 percent and a 6-month bill at 10.27 percent. The week’s offer volume was Rs140 billion; Wednesday’s main auction had raised Rs71,740 million across the 3-, 6- and 12-month tenors, with all three bills then offered on tap. The settlement date for the tapped portion is June 12.
The auction-plus-tap shortfall — Rs75.25 billion sold against Rs140 billion offered — leaves more than half of the week’s planned issuance unsubscribed, even as bond yields have rallied on optimism around a US-Iran framework deal. The rupee strengthened to 335.50/336.00 on Friday alongside the secondary-market bond rally.
Sri Lanka’s debt office had previously tapped Rs8 billion on May 8 to bring the week total to Rs108 billion and Rs10 billion on May 1 during earlier weeks. The lower yield pickup and the subscription gap this week signal a market re-pricing as the Middle East war-risk premium narrows on diplomatic progress.
Source: EconomyNext.
