T-Bills: Government woefully misses GH¢7 billion target by over GH¢2 billion

The government has missed out on its ambitious treasury bills target, by a substantial GH¢2.671 billion, according to the latest auction results from the Bank of Ghana.

The sale of the short-term instruments resulted in an undersubscription of 35.9%, was the government managed to sell GH¢4.767 billion (64.1%) out of the GH¢7.438 billion it had targeted.

During the auction on September 27, 2024, and issuance on September 30, 2024, GH¢2.598.70 billion was secured for the 91-day bill.

However, the government accepted GH¢830.28 million for the 182-day bill and GH¢1.338.43 million for the 365-day bill.

Last week, the government sold a total of GH¢4.394.54 billion.

Interest rates were set at 25.64% for the 91-day bill, 26.92% for the 182-day bill, and 28.67% for the 365-day bill.

According to the Bank of Ghana's results, all bids tendered in this week’s auction were accepted.

Meanwhile, the government has set a target of GH¢5.980 billion for its next auction.

However, an Economist at the University of Ghana, Dr. Lord Mensah, has taken a swipe at the government for the manner in which it is borrowing.

According to him, the government is disregarding the treasury bills issuance calendar and borrowing anyhow.

Treasury bills have become the government’s primary source of borrowing since it no longer has access to the international capital market.

On his X page, the economist said: “If you want to know how low the economy has sunk, look at the frequency and the volumes of T-bills issued by the Ghana government. This government has thrown away the treasury bill issue calendar and they're doing their own thing. Borrowing left and right from the money market.”

SSD/MA

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