- Treasury Borrowing Drops Sharply as Government Accepts GH¢2.21bn from GH¢3.96bn Bids
The Government of Ghana raised GH¢2.21bn from its latest Treasury bill auction, substantially below the GH¢4.12bn target, after accepting just over half of the bids submitted by investors.
Tender 2025, held on September 18 for securities to be issued on September 21, attracted GH¢3.96bn in total bids across the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day maturities. The auction therefore fell short of the government’s stated financing target by about GH¢1.91bn, according to the Bank of Ghana’s official tender notice.
The government accepted approximately 55.91% of the GH¢3.96bn tendered, equivalent to 53.67% of the auction target. That relatively low acceptance ratio suggests the authorities were unwilling to take all available funding simply to meet the target, particularly where investors demanded rates above the levels the government was prepared to allot.
The auction therefore points to a tension between the government’s financing requirement and its effort to contain the cost of short-term domestic borrowing.
Demand remained heavily concentrated in the 91-day Treasury bill, which attracted GH¢2.29bn in bids and had GH¢1.88bn accepted.
That maturity alone accounted for approximately 84.83% of all securities sold at the auction, reinforcing investors’ preference for the shortest available government instrument.
The 182-day bill received GH¢452.79m in bids, of which GH¢224.96m was accepted, while the 364-day bill attracted GH¢1.21bn but recorded just GH¢110.52m in accepted bids.
The particularly low acceptance of the 364-day bill is notable. Although investors offered more than GH¢1.21bn for the one-year instrument, the government took only about 9.10% of that amount, suggesting a wide gap between investor pricing expectations and the rates authorities were willing to pay.
By comparison, roughly 82.00% of bids for the 91-day bill were accepted, making the shortest maturity both the largest source of funding and the area where pricing was most closely aligned.
Weighted average interest rates for the week were 4.50% on the 91-day bill, 6.49% on the 182-day bill and 9.98% on the 364-day security. The corresponding weighted average discount rates were 4.64%, 6.29% and 9.08% respectively.
The upward progression across maturities reflects the additional return investors continue to demand for committing funds over longer periods.
The auction data also show how aggressively the government filtered bids. The range of rates submitted stretched from 4.45% to 6.00% for the 91-day bill, 6.16% to 9.00% for the 182-day bill and 9.00% to 12.00% for the 364-day bill.
Rates allotted in full were capped much lower, at 4.94% on the 91-day instrument, 6.35% on the 182-day bill and 9.09% on the 364-day maturity, indicating that higher-priced offers were largely rejected.
The latest auction was also considerably weaker in volume than the preceding one. Tender 2024, held on September 11, attracted GH¢8.20bn and resulted in GH¢7.21bn being sold, compared with GH¢3.96bn tendered and GH¢2.21bn accepted this time.
That means bids fell by approximately 51.73% week on week, while the amount accepted dropped by about 69.31%, marking a sharp slowdown in both investor participation and government uptake.
The contrast is important because the government had comfortably exceeded its financing need in the previous auction, while the latest sale left a material shortfall against target.
Part of the difference appears to reflect pricing discipline rather than a complete absence of investor liquidity, since the government still rejected roughly GH¢1.74bn of the GH¢3.96bn submitted.
The results therefore suggest that authorities may be prioritising lower borrowing costs even where doing so means raising less than the amount initially sought.
That strategy carries both benefits and risks. Rejecting expensive bids can help restrain interest costs and prevent a sudden upward repricing of the Treasury curve, particularly after yields have fallen sharply over the course of 2026.
But persistent undershooting of auction targets could create refinancing pressure if upcoming maturities and cash requirements exceed the amounts being raised, forcing the government either to return more aggressively to the market or rely on alternative financing sources.
The concentration in 91-day paper also raises questions about maturity risk. While short-term bills are currently cheaper than longer-dated instruments, heavy dependence on three-month borrowing means the government must refinance those obligations more frequently.
That can reduce near-term interest expense but increases exposure to future changes in liquidity conditions, inflation expectations and investor risk appetite.
The Government has set a much lower GH¢2.75bn target for Tender 2026, covering the same three Treasury bill maturities.
That target is about GH¢1.37bn below the GH¢4.12bn sought in the latest auction and may indicate a reduced near-term cash requirement or an adjustment to recent market conditions.
The next auction will therefore provide an important test of whether demand stabilises after the sharp fall recorded in Tender 2025.
For now, the latest auction presents a mixed picture of Ghana’s short-term domestic debt market.
Investors remain willing to provide funding, particularly at the 91-day end, but the government is resisting higher rates and accepting materially less than both the bids available and the financing target announced.
The key question is whether that pricing discipline can be sustained without creating refinancing pressure as the state continues to roll over short-term obligations in the weeks ahead.
