MAS has announced the auction result for T-bill 14 Nov 2023 (BS23122F), and the final cut-off yield was 3.75%. It is a significant drop from the 3.95% yield in the previous auction. This is slightly disappointing for investors as we have seen a trend of climbing yields in recent auctions.
Auction Result
Let us look into the auction summary and see what we can observe.
Allotment
| Total Amount Allotted | S$5.7 billion |
| Amount Allotted to Non-Competitive Applications | S$2.3 billion |
| Total Amount Applied | S$13.2 billion |
| % of Competitive Applications at Cut-off Allotted | Approximately 98% |
| % of Non-Competitive Applications Allotted | Approximately 95% |
| Bid-to-Cover Ratio | 2.31 |
Yield and Price
| Cut-off Yield | 3.75% p.a. |
| Cut-off Price | 98.13 |
| Median Yield | 3.65% p.a. |
| Median Price | 98.18 |
| Average Yield | 2.71% p.a. |
| Average Price | 98.649 |
Source: MAS
Yield Dropped to 3.75%
The cut-off yield for the T-bill 14 Nov 2023 (BS23122F) auction fell to 3.75%. This is the level we have seen most of this year. Despite a somewhat disappointing yield result, we have to be fair that the current level is still among the highest in recent years.
We can see from the historical chart above that we have been ranging around this level since the beginning of this year. At 3.75%, we can conservatively say that the yield is pretty attractive since we are still at one of the highest levels in recent years. For reference, the yield was still below 1% back in 2022.
Demand Spiked
One factor that could contribute to the lower yield is the jump in demand. The total amount applied jumped to $13.2 billion, up from $11.5 billion – almost a 15% jump in demand. We also saw a jump in non-competitive bid amounts, indicating higher demand from retail investors. The bad news here is that the non-competitive bid amounts exceeded the maximum 40% threshold, and therefore, these non-competitive bidders only got 95% of their allocation.
With such high demand, we may need to continue submitting competitive bids to ensure we can receive our full allocation.
T-Bill Alternatives
Despite the drop, the current yield is still competitive compared to similar short-term fixed-income investments. Let’s look at some of the popular alternatives.
Fixed Deposits
Fixed deposits in Singapore have been offering relatively lower interest rates this year. At the time of this writing, the highest fixed deposit rate is only at 3.6%, while the majority offers at a low 3%. With such a low rate, we can safely say that T-bills are more attractive than fixed deposits.
Syfe Cash+ Guaranteed
This is a unique offering from Syfe for its cash management account. Syfe recently bumped its Cash+ Guaranteed offering to a guaranteed rate of 3.8% for three months. Now, this is higher than the latest T-bill rate of 3.75%. The downside of Syfe Cash+ Guaranteed is that it is not SDIC insured because cash management accounts are considered investment instruments. Additionally, the lock-in period is only for three months. If the interest rate declines, you may be exposed to reinvesting risk after three months.
High Yield Savings Account
High-yield savings accounts offer competitive rates if you can fulfill their requirements, such as crediting salary, spending on credit cards, buying insurance, etc. Most people will only be able to meet a few, so the effective interest rate is much lower than advertised. Calculating how much you can realistically get with these accounts would be a good start.
You also need to know that these accounts offer floating interest rates, meaning they will follow the prevailing market interest rates without any lock-in period. For example, if the interest rate drops significantly next month, the rates offered by these accounts will likely follow suit soon.
What Would We Do?
We have been using T-bills to park our short-term cash, and we believe the current yield of 3.75% is still relatively attractive. Because of the high demand from non-competitive bidders in recent auctions, we have been using competitive bids when applying for T-bills. We will continue to use competitive bids going forward to ensure we can get our full allocation.
Did you get your allocation in this T-bill 14 Nov 2023 (BS23122F) auction?
Would you like to apply for the next T-bill? If you intend to use CPF, you may use our CPF T-bill calculator to estimate the additional interest you may earn by investing in T-bills.
Furthermore, we have written a comprehensive guide about Singapore T-bills and how to buy T-bills.
