- Investors Tender GH¢5.01bn For Treasury Bills; GH¢4.11bn Accepted
Investors tendered GH¢5.01 billion for 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills at the Government of Ghana’s latest securities auction, exceeding the stated GH¢3.54 billion target by GH¢1.47 billion.
The Bank of Ghana accepted GH¢4.11 billion in bids, according to the results of Tender 2032, held on November 6 for securities scheduled to be issued on November 9. The accepted amount is GH¢563.96 million above the stated target. The notice does not explain the difference between the target and total acceptances.
The figures point to demand for government short-term securities, but the maturity breakdown shows investors favoured the shortest bill. Of the GH¢4.11 billion accepted, GH¢2.93 billion was for 91-day bills, GH¢934.50 million for 182-day bills and GH¢243.15 million for 364-day bills. The 91-day bill therefore accounted for just over 71% of the accepted total.
That distribution matters. The headline oversubscription indicates that bids exceeded the government’s stated target, but it does not mean demand was equally strong across maturities. Investors tendered GH¢3.00 billion for the 91-day bill, GH¢1.62 billion for the 182-day bill and GH¢388.45 million for the 364-day bill. Acceptance was highest at the short end: about 97.5% of 91-day bids were accepted, compared with 57.7% for 182-day bills and 62.6% for 364-day bills.
The pattern suggests investors were more willing to commit funds over a shorter period than to lock them into longer-dated bills. It does not, on its own, establish why they made that choice. The auction notice provides bid ranges and weighted-average rates, but no investor commentary or comparison with earlier rates to explain the maturity preference.
The weighted-average rates for the week of November 9–13 were 4.5109% on a discount basis and 4.5624% on an interest basis for the 91-day bill. For the 182-day bill, the corresponding rates were 6.0154% and 6.2020%. The 364-day bill recorded an 8.6629% discount rate and a 9.4846% interest rate.
Those figures show higher reported rates for the longer maturities in this auction. But without comparable results from earlier tenders, the notice does not establish whether rates are rising or falling. Investors assessing the market’s direction will need to compare the results with subsequent auctions and consider how yields relate to inflation, alternative investments and expectations about future rates.
The gap between bids tendered and bids accepted also varied sharply by maturity. Of the GH¢3.00 billion offered for 91-day bills, GH¢2.93 billion was accepted, leaving GH¢75 million unaccepted. For the 182-day bill, GH¢684.70 million of the GH¢1.62 billion tendered was not accepted. The 364-day bill saw GH¢145.30 million of GH¢388.45 million unaccepted.
This selectivity means the auction result should not be read as a simple measure of appetite for government borrowing. Bids may be submitted at different rates, and the Bank’s published ranges show that rates were not accepted uniformly. The notice reports the bid rates allotted in full, but does not provide further detail on how individual bids were selected.
The results also represent a marked increase on the previous tender cited in the notice. Tender 2031, held on October 30, recorded GH¢2.55 billion in bids and GH¢1.92 billion in securities sold. In Tender 2032, total bids were nearly double the previous tendered amount, while accepted bids were more than twice the previous amount sold. The notice does not specify the reasons for the change, so it cannot be attributed to any single factor.
The next auction will carry a higher target. The Bank of Ghana lists a target of GH¢5.57 billion for Tender 2033, covering 91-day, 182-day and 364-day bills. That is GH¢2.03 billion, or about 57%, above the GH¢3.54 billion target for Tender 2032.
The increase sets a larger test for demand. If bids remain strong, the government could secure significant short-term financing. But the latest auction also shows why aggregate demand needs to be read alongside maturity preferences and acceptance rates. A strong overall tender can coexist with lower acceptance of bids for longer bills.
The structure of the auction also shapes who can participate directly. The Bank of Ghana states that the wholesale auction is open only to Primary Dealers, all of whom are obliged to act as market makers in government securities.
Members of the public wishing to buy or sell the securities may do so on the secondary market through depository participants, including Primary Dealers.
That distinction places a responsibility on the secondary market: it is the route through which broader public participation can take place after the primary auction.
The notice sets out the access channel but does not report secondary-market trading activity or how readily investors can trade the securities once issued.
For the government, the larger upcoming target will make the balance between funding needs and market conditions increasingly important.
A successful auction can help meet financing requirements, but the results alone do not show the overall cost or sustainability of borrowing.
The published weighted averages indicate the rates attached to this week’s securities; they do not provide a full picture of government debt obligations or financing costs across the wider market.
The November 6 auction therefore delivers two signals. Bids exceeded the stated target, and the government has set a substantially larger target for its next tender.
At the same time, most accepted funds went into the 91-day bill, while a smaller share was accepted at the longer maturities.
The next results will show whether the increased target attracts a comparable level of demand, and whether investors extend their commitments across longer maturities.
Until then, the strongest conclusion from Tender 2032 is that demand was substantial in total, but concentrated at the short end.
