Gov’t borrows GHc781m in just 2 months

Government borrowed GHc781.918 million from the domestic market between December 2015 and January 2016.

The debt instrument which are listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange are made up of four 1-year fixed rate note, two 2-year fixed rate note and a 3-year fixed rate note.

The largest debt instrument issued was a GHc373.2 million 3-year fixed rate note which was issued on January 11, 2016 at an interest rate of 24.75 percent.

Following closely was a GHc255.8 million 2-year fixed rate note issued on December 14, 2015.

The yield for that instrument was 23.30 percent.

According to a circular from the Ghana Stock Exchange, the interest payment will be done within half a year from the date of issue.

For the 1-year note, the issue dates were December 7 and 21, 2015 and January 4 and 18, 2016, respectively.

On the other hand, the 2-year notes were issued on December 14, 2015 and January 11, 2016, respectively.

According to the Bank of Ghana, non-resident foreigners were allowed to participate in the securities with tenure of two years and above.

Already, government is expected to raise a total of GHc6.03 billion through the Bank of Ghana in securities alone this month.

This will include GHc3 billion in 91-day Treasury bill, GHc2.1 billion in 182-day Treasury bill and GHc120 million worth of 1-year note. The rest are GHc300 million 2-year note and GHc500million from a 5-year fixed rate note.

According to Bank of Ghana, the aggregate borrowing for the month of February 2016 will cover maturities of GHc5.55 billion. Net issuance during the month is therefore GHc476.06 million.

The central bank stated that the auction for the 91-day and 182-day Treasury bills, the 1-year and 2-year notes will be conducted on Fridays.

The treasury notes and bonds may however be re-opened to create liquidity in the instruments.

According to the latest summary of Financial and Economic Data, Ghana’s public debt stock hit GHc92.2 billion in September 2015, representing 69.1 percent of GDP.

Domestic debt at the end of December 2015 was however GHc38.8 billion, approximately 29.1 percent of GDP.