Ghana Gold Board auctions US$125m to commercial banks in maiden sale

Government secures GH₵3.48 billion in marginally oversubscribed T-bill sale

The Government of Ghana accepted GH₵3.48 billion in its latest treasury bills auction, slightly exceeding its target by just over 1%. Despite a marginal reduction in overall demand compared to previous weeks, investors submitted bids totaling GH₵5.173 billion across the three available tenors. The results indicate that the government continues to meet its short-term domestic borrowing requirements while exercising selectivity in the volume of bids accepted. A breakdown of the auction results shows that the 91-day bill remained the most popular instrument among investors, attracting GH₵2.9 billion in bids. From this amount, the government accepted GH₵2.2 billion. The 182-day bill saw total bids of approximately GH₵1.1 billion, with the government taking up GH₵692.30 million. For the 364-day maturity, investors tendered GH₵1.1 billion, resulting in an acceptance of GH₵587.61 million. Interest rates across the yield curve exhibited mixed performance during the sale. The yield on the 91-day instrument rose to 4.62%, while the 182-day yield also saw an increase, climbing to 6.31%. In contrast, the yield for the 364-day bill trended downwards, falling to 9.71%. This divergence in yields suggests varying investor sentiment across different time horizons as the Bank of Ghana manages liquidity and borrowing costs. The marginal oversubscription highlights a stabilizing appetite for government debt in the domestic market. While the total bid amount was significantly higher than the accepted figure, the government’s decision to stay close to its original target reflects a cautious approach to debt accumulation. Observers will continue to monitor these weekly auctions for signals on interest rate stability and the overall health of the domestic financial market.