The Treasury beat its borrowing target and paid lower rates, but nearly two-thirds of the money must be repaid within three months.
The Government of Ghana raised GH¢2.90 billion at its latest Treasury bill auction, beating its GH¢2.75 billion target by about GH¢146.86 million and paying lower interest rates across all three maturities.
Treasury bills are short-term IOUs the government sells to banks, firms and individuals to fund its day-to-day spending. The auction, listed as Tender 2026, was held on 25 September for securities to be issued on 28 September.
Investors submitted GH¢3.66 billion in total bids and the Treasury accepted 79.3 per cent of that. The bid-cover ratio was 1.26 against the target.
A rebound built on a smaller target
A week earlier, at Tender 2025, the government had fallen short. It sought GH¢4.12 billion, attracted GH¢3.96 billion in bids and accepted only GH¢2.21 billion after rejecting close to GH¢1.75 billion of investor demand, including most of the one-year bids. That undersubscription was reported at the time by Norvan Reports.
So the turnaround this week was not driven by stronger appetite. Total bids actually fell by GH¢300.42 million, or 7.6 per cent. What changed is that the target was cut sharply and the Treasury accepted a much bigger share of what was offered — 79.3 per cent this week against 55.9 per cent the week before.
Rates fell across the board
The 91-day bill cleared at a weighted average interest rate of 4.6785 per cent, down slightly from 4.6941 per cent. The 182-day bill fell to 6.3701 per cent from 6.4895 per cent, and the 364-day bill dropped to 9.8339 per cent from 9.9820 per cent — a fall of almost 15 basis points, the largest of the three.
Across the last two auctions, the six-month and one-year rates have come down by roughly 14.1 and 26.8 basis points respectively, while the three-month rate has barely moved.
The government also refused bids at the expensive end. On the one-year bill, investors asked for discount rates as high as 11.5044 per cent, but full allotment stopped at 9.0909 per cent.
Still leaning on three-month money
The 91-day bill again dominated. Investors tendered GH¢2.08 billion and the government took GH¢1.88 billion — an acceptance rate of 90.5 per cent and 64.9 per cent of all funds raised.
The 182-day bill brought in GH¢520.57 million, and the 364-day bill GH¢497.74 million, up sharply from just GH¢110.52 million accepted a week earlier.
That concentration keeps immediate borrowing costs low but means the debt must be rolled over four times a year, exposing the Treasury to any sudden shift in investor mood.
What comes next
The Bank of Ghana, the country's central bank, has set a target of GH¢2.24 billion for the next auction, Tender 2027 — GH¢510 million below this week's target. The auction notice gives no reason for the reduction.
