The Bureau of Treasury cancelled a scheduled T-bill auction Tuesday as its sale of retail Treasury bonds climbed to P114 billion, far more than the government had expected.

''That is the rough amount'' raised from the retail sale as of Friday, National Treasurer Roberto Tan told Reuters.

The final figure is expected to be higher with the Treasury likely to sell 3 billion pesos more of 7-year retail bonds by the close of the offer at 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) Tuesday.

The Bureau of Treasury had earlier forecast the retail bond sale, which includes sales to government owned and controlled firms, would fetch slightly over P80 billion in total.

The government had been planning to raise 8.5 billion pesos from the sale of 91-day, 182-day and 364-day T-bills on Tuesday, the same day as the retail issue closed, but cancelled the auction to avoid settlement problems, Tan said.

One Manila-based trader said the cancellation of the auction and news of stronger-than-expected retail bond sales triggered some buying on 4- and 5-year debt toward the end of the Tuesday morning session, but yields were little changed.

The Treasury closed the sale of 3- and 5-year retail bonds last Wednesday, just one day after the sale started, due to overwhelming demand. It also limited its offer of 7-year paper to 3 billion pesos a day until Sept. 22.

Manila, which faces a record budget deficit this year of P250 billion, or 3.2 percent of GDP, has set a local borrowing plan of P451.7 billion this year to finance its gap.

As of Sept 9, the government had sold P209.676 billion worth of bills and bonds via regular auctions so far this year, based on Reuters calculations. The government also sells bills and bonds through an over-the-counter window.

Tan has said Manila would adjust its yet-to-be disclosed local borrowing plan in the fourth quarter, depending on the proceeds from the retail bond sale.