Ghana accepted 4.40 billion cedis at the treasury bill auction settled on Monday, 12 October, above the target of 2.87 billion, according to results published by the Bank of Ghana.
Investors had submitted bids worth 5.06 billion cedis. The state awarded 3.01 billion on the 91-day paper, 1.26 billion on the 182-day bills and 136.26 million on the one-year maturity.
The concentration in the shortest paper shows that demand remains strong but cautious. Bids received for the 91-day bills reached 3.29 billion cedis, compared with 1.31 billion for 182-day bills and 468.92 million for 364-day bills.
Equivalent interest rates stood at 4,6042% for 91 days, 6,2791% for 182 days and 9,7523% for one year. They fell by 3,7, 4.0 and 4.9 basis points, respectively, compared with the previous auction on 5 October.
The lower rates slightly reduce the state's short-term financing cost. However, this does not mean that fiscal risk has disappeared, as the repeated reliance on short-term instruments forces the Treasury to return to the market frequently and exposes refinancing to changes in liquidity.
For the next operation, the government is targeting 5.02 billion cedis across the same three maturities. The outcome will depend on the cash levels of banks and investors, as well as their expectations for inflation and policy rates.