Government to raise ¢1.49bn in T-bills this week

Government is expected to raise ¢1.49 billion this week to refinance the upcoming Treasury bills maturities of ¢1.37 billion.

This follows a narrow miss of its target last week.

The government raised ¢1.81 billion last week against a target of ¢1.87 billion, about 96.81% of the auction target.

The uptake, however, exceeded the refinancing obligation.

The T-bill curve continued to flatten as the yield on the 182-day was 35.98%, while interest on the 364-day stood at 35.89%. The 91-day bill, however, cleared at 35.36%.

Analysts expect T-bill yields to decline as an expected IMF support-programme in the first quarter of 2023 coupled with a stable outlook of the cedi may limit currency pass-through to inflation.

Corporate issuances are also expected to gain more traction on the market due to a probable low-interest rate regime.

Government is yet to issue its calendar for borrowing in the first quarter of 2023, but experts are estimating a refinancing trade of about¢23.06b billion across treasury bills.

The 91-day bill is expected to account for 76% of the upcoming maturities.

Whilst the 91-day and 182-day T-bills will be issued weekly, the 364-day will be floated bi-weekly.

The 2-year to 7-year bonds will be subject to prevailing market conditions.

Again, the issuance of Inflation-Linked Bonds will be subject to market conditions.