The interest rate of the 28-day debt paper of the The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) declined on Friday amid the strong demand or double the original offer size of P60 billion.

BSP data showed that the average rate of the securities slipped to 1.7135 percent from the previous week’s 1.8487 percent.

The demand for the BSP’s latest papers were so strong that demand reached P123.8 billion, or more than twice the original size of P60 billion. The central bank’s auction committee decided to make a full award on the demand.

Also, the bid coverage ratio stood at 2.0633, up from week-ago’s 1.8200, when the paper was offered for P60 billion and bids reached P109.2 billion.

BSP Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila Jr. has repeatedly said the huge amount of tenders in the weekly debt securities auction of the central bank continues to show that domestic liquidity or money supply remains ample.

The BSP conducts offerings of debt papers to manage the domestic financial system’s liquidity level.

“(The) BSP will continue to refine and recalibrate the overall strategy of its current monetary operations, guided by its assessment of recent market developments and liquidity conditions,” Dakila said.

The central bank said early this month that domestic liquidity increased by 12.3 percent year-on-year to P13.5 trillion in September. CURRENTPH