T-bills auction: Government fails to meet target; interest rates surge

The government failed to achieve its Treasury bills target despite receiving the first tranche of the $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout package on May 19, 2023.

It was expected that investor confidence will soar, but that was not the case.

According to the auction results by the Bank of Ghana, the government received ¢2.72 billion from the sale of the short-term financial instruments, slightly lower than the targeted amount of ¢2.73 billion.

The majority of the bids came from the 91-day T-bill as a little above ¢2.01 billion were tendered. All the amount was accepted.

Also, about ¢712 million were offered from the investors for the 182-day bill, which all the bids were received.

There were expectations that interest rates will fall, following the $600 million credited to the Bank of Ghana account. However, it wasn’t so.

The yield on the 91-day T-bill went up to 20.56%, from 20.43%. That of the 182-day bill also inched up by 0.39% to 23.35%.

Source: Ghana News