- Treasury Demand Strengthens As Ghana Raises GH¢8.38bn Against GH¢6.55bn Target
Ghana raised GH¢11.53 billion from its latest government securities auction after investors submitted bids worth GH¢14.40 billion across Treasury bills and a four-year FXR bond, pointing to continued strong demand for sovereign instruments.
The auction, Tender 2023, was held on September 4, 2026 for securities to be issued on September 7, according to the Bank of Ghana. Investors submitted GH¢9.94 billion in bids for the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills, while another GH¢4.46 billion was tendered for the four-year bond.
The government accepted GH¢8.38 billion across the three Treasury bill maturities, about 27.88% above its GH¢6.55 billion target. That represented an acceptance rate of approximately 84.34% of Treasury bill bids received, compared with a much lower 52.87% acceptance rate at the previous auction.
Demand was strongest for the 91-day bill, where investors submitted GH¢6.23 billion and the government accepted GH¢5.84 billion, equivalent to an acceptance rate of about 93.73%. The 182-day bill attracted GH¢1.92 billion, of which GH¢1.59 billion was accepted, while the 364-day bill drew GH¢1.80 billion with GH¢952.77 million accepted.
The weighted average interest rate on the 91-day bill stood at 4.81%, while the 182-day bill cleared at 6.68% and the 364-day bill at 10.12%. The corresponding weighted average discount rates were 4.75%, 6.47% and 9.19%, respectively.
The spread across the maturities illustrates the premium investors continue to demand for extending duration. The gap between the weighted average interest rates on the 91-day and 364-day bills was approximately 5.31 percentage points, reflecting materially higher pricing at the longer end of the Treasury bill curve.
The government also accepted GH¢3.15 billion from GH¢4.46 billion tendered for the four-year FXR bond, representing an acceptance rate of about 70.57%. The security cleared at an interest rate of 12.00%, taking total accepted bids across all four instruments to GH¢11.53 billion.
Across the entire auction, the government accepted approximately 80.07% of the GH¢14.40 billion submitted. That reflects a relatively high overall acceptance rate, although the distribution of demand remained heavily skewed towards the shortest-dated instrument.
The comparison with the preceding Treasury bill auction is particularly notable.
At Tender 2022 held on August 28, investors submitted GH¢12.35 billion for the three Treasury bill maturities, but the government sold only GH¢6.53 billion. In the latest auction, Treasury bill bids fell by approximately 19.50% to GH¢9.94 billion, yet the amount accepted increased by about 28.42% to GH¢8.38 billion.
The divergence suggests that the government’s funding decision, rather than headline investor demand alone, played an important role in the larger amount raised this week. Despite receiving fewer Treasury bill bids than at the previous tender, the government accepted a substantially greater proportion of those submitted.
That distinction matters when interpreting auction performance.
An oversubscribed Treasury bill target can signal strong demand, but the amount ultimately raised also depends on the government’s financing requirement and the rates it is prepared to accept. In this auction, bids exceeded the GH¢6.55 billion Treasury bill target by approximately 51.63%, while actual sales exceeded the target by 27.88%.
The interest-rate structure is also significant for Ghana’s domestic financing environment. Rates of 4.81% on the 91-day bill and 6.68% on the 182-day instrument remain well below the double-digit levels associated with the longer 364-day bill and four-year bond, reinforcing the relative pricing advantage of shorter-term government borrowing.
That advantage, however, comes with refinancing risk.
Heavy reliance on short-dated Treasury bills requires government to return frequently to the market to refinance maturing obligations. Lower near-term rates can reduce immediate interest costs, but a financing strategy concentrated at the short end can leave the public finances more exposed to future changes in liquidity conditions and investor sentiment.
The four-year bond therefore adds a useful maturity extension to the funding mix, even at the higher 12.00% interest rate. A deeper maturity profile can reduce the frequency with which government must refinance the same principal, although the trade-off is the higher cost associated with longer-term funding.
The Bank of Ghana has set a new target of GH¢7.97 billion for Tender 2024 covering the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills. That represents an increase of approximately 21.60% from the GH¢6.55 billion target for the latest auction.
The next auction will therefore provide another test of whether demand remains sufficiently strong as government raises its targeted short-term funding requirement.
For now, the September 4 results show a sovereign market still capable of absorbing substantial issuance.
The government secured GH¢8.38 billion from Treasury bills against a GH¢6.55 billion target and another GH¢3.15 billion from the four-year bond, bringing total accepted securities to GH¢11.53 billion.
