Yields on 364-day bill inches to 33% as Gov’t exceeds auction target by GHS 466m
The Government in the issuance of its 91, 182 and 364 days treasury bills exceeded its target of raising GHS 2.10bn.
The Treasury in the auction of the short-term securities exceeded its target by some GHS 466m as it managed to raise GHS 2.57bn from the debt market.
In the previous week’s auction, it exceeded its target by some GHS 510m as it managed to raise GHS 3.09bn from the debt market.
Bids for the 91, 182 and 364 days T-Bills amounted to GHS 2,170 million, GHS 375 million and GHS 80 million respectively with the Government accepting bids amounting to GHS 2,155m, GHS 353m and GHS 67m made for the 91, 182 and 364-day T-Bill.
The 91, 182 and 364 days T-Bills were auctioned at interest rates of 29.1%, 31.2% and 33.0% respectively.
On average, the Government’s interest cost on T-Bills stands at 31.1%.
Despite the high rates on T-Bills, real returns on the short-term debt instruments are still negative given that the rates are below the prevailing inflation rate of 40.1%.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana has revealed that Ghana’s public debt witnessed a notable uptick, surging by approximately ¢6.3 billion during the second quarter of 2023. This substantial increase propelled the nation’s total debt to ¢575.5 billion, which translates to some $52.3 billion.
Strikingly, this figure represents a significant 71.9% of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Breaking down the components of Ghana’s public debt, data from the Central Bank discloses that the external component reached $29.9 billion (¢328.6 billion) in June 2023, surpassing the figure recorded in April 2023, which stood at $29.3 billion (¢321.3 billion).
In contrast, the domestic debt stood at ¢246.9 billion at the close of June 2023, constituting approximately 30.8% of the nation’s GDP.
