May 2010 Financial News

Average T-bill yields fall again, minimum bids climb

May 05, 2010

AVERAGE yields on Government Treasury bills dropped for the tenth consecutive month in April to bring benchmark rates below 10 per cent.

But anxiety surrounding the Government's debt swap -- the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) -- back in February, which sent market players bidding across wide ranges of yield starting as low as 8.2 per cent in March, appears to have waned.

The average yield for T-bills issued on April 30 was 9.73 per cent on 91-day instruments and 9.52 per cent on 182-day instruments, down from months-earlier averages of 10.18 per cent and 10.49 per cent, respectively.

In March, however, the full allotment yield on 91-day instrument ranged from 8.19 per cent to 10.34 per cent, and on 182-day T-bills from 9.25 per cent to 10.45 per cent.

Last week, bidders were unwilling to go below 9.499 per cent for either tenors, bidding minimums that were 1.3 percentage points and 0.25 percentage point higher for 91-day and 182-day T-bills than month-earlier lows.

Even in February, when the JDX was being executed, bidders went as low as 8.99 per cent on 91-day T-bills.


Source:
Jamaica Observer
Wednesday, May 05, 2010

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Average-T-bill-yields-fall-again-minimum-bids-climb_7581830