SINGAPORE: Yields on Singapore’s six-month Treasury bill (T-bill) hit a multi-decade high on Thursday (Oct 27), with the latest auction reporting a cut-off of 4.19 per cent per annum.
This marked the highest yield on a six-month T-bill since September 1988, when the return rate peaked at 4.73 per cent.
T-bills are short-term debt securities issued and backed by the Singapore Government, with maturities of one year or less.
Like the Singapore Savings Bonds – another type of Singapore Government Securities – its yields have been on an uptrend this year, as global central banks go on a rate-hike race to curb inflation.
The latest cut-off yield is up from the 3.77 per cent reported for the six-month T-bill issued last week, and up from 0.55 per cent at the start of the year.
Amid rising returns, demand for T-bills has also been heating up.
The latest auction received applications amounting to S$10.9 billion for a total allotment of S$4.6 billion.
The previous issue was also over-subscribed, with S$10.2 billion worth of bids for a total allotment of S$4.5 billion.
All non-competitive bids of S$1.8 billion were allotted in the latest auction, while only 14 per cent of competitive bids were allotted at the cut-off yield, according to results released on the website of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.