Investors last week continued to ease their demand for treasury bills, with the Treasury recording an undersubscription in its primary auction.
Total bids amounted to GH¢3.0 billion, of which GH¢2.73 billion was accepted, falling 35.6 percent short of the GH¢4.24 billion target.
The shortfall comes after a stronger performance in the August 8 auction, where the Treasury accepted GH¢6.68 billion out of GH¢6.89 billion tendered.
Analysts attribute the weaker demand largely to a shift of funds into other attractive instruments such as fixed deposits and repos.
A breakdown of the auction shows that GH¢2.02 billion out of GH¢2.05 billion in bids for the 91-day bill was accepted. For the 182-day bill, GH¢537 million was taken from GH¢678 million in bids, while the 364-day bill saw GH¢167 million accepted out of GH¢272 million tendered.
Yields continued their downward trajectory, ranging between 10 and 13 percent. The 91-day yield slipped by 7 basis points to 10.13 percent, the 182-day by 2 basis points to 12.23 percent, and the 364-day by 2 basis points to 13.08 percent.
Looking ahead, the government aims to raise GHS 6.42 billion at the next auction. This underscores the government’s sustained dependence on short-term domestic borrowing to refinance maturing debt and support liquidity management.
