Two back-to-back sales of 14-day central bank bills show how much spare cedi cash the regulator is pulling out of the banking system — and at what price.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), the country's central bank, took in a combined GH¢18.88 billion from banks over three days in October through sales of its own short-term securities, in one of the clearer recent signs of how much surplus cedi cash is sitting in the financial system.
The figures come from two auctions held under the same tender notice. On 19 October, the Bank sold GH¢10.757 billion of 14-day bills. Two days later, on 21 October, it sold GH¢8.127 billion — about GH¢2.63 billion, or 24.45 per cent, less than the earlier round. The details were reported by Norvan Reports.
Prices barely moved
Even though the amount sold fell sharply, the cost hardly shifted. The weighted average discount rate edged up from 10.4540 per cent to 10.4560 per cent — a change of just 0.20 of a basis point. The weighted average interest rate moved from 10.4962 per cent to 10.4982 per cent.
The accepted bid range stayed the same across both sales: discount rates between 10.40 per cent and roughly 10.46 per cent, and interest rates between 10.44 per cent and 10.50 per cent. In plain terms, the Bank did not have to offer banks better returns to complete the smaller sale.
What these bills actually are
BoG bills are not the same as government Treasury bills. Treasury bills raise money to fund the national budget. BoG bills exist to manage money supply. When the central bank sells them, banks hand over cedis and the cash is temporarily parked at the Bank instead of circulating in the economy.
That matters because too much idle cash in the banking system can push banks towards foreign exchange purchases and interbank lending, putting pressure on the cedi and making it harder for the Bank to control inflation. For Ghanaians abroad sending money home, cedi stability is the part of this story that touches them directly.
Because the bills mature in only 14 days, the money returns to banks quickly unless the Bank rolls the operation over or runs a new one.
What is not known
The published results did not state how many bids were received, the total value tendered, how much was rejected, or any auction target. Without that, it is not possible to say whether the smaller allotment reflects weaker appetite from banks or a deliberate decision by the Bank to absorb less.
The 10.4982 per cent rate also sits well below the Bank's 14 per cent monetary policy rate. The two serve different purposes — one signals overall policy direction, the other comes out of a specific short-term operation.
The next auctions will show whether allotments settle near GH¢8 billion, climb back above GH¢10 billion, or ease further.
