T-bills auction: Interest rates fall marginally; Government records 3.38% oversubscription

Interest rates fell marginally on the treasury market, as the government recorded a marginal oversubscription of Treasury bills auction.

According to the auction results, the government got ¢4.212 billion, about 3.38% more than the targeted amount.

The rate on the 91-day bill went down by 11 basis points to 29.24%.

Similarly, the 182-day bill eased to 31.88% from the previous 31.94%.

The yield on the one-year bill also fell to 32.48% from the preceding week’s 32.49%.

Analysts were expecting a rise in T-bill yields because of the government’s need for funds to support the budget.

Meanwhile, the government accepted ¢4.210 billion of the bids tendered for the auction.

About ¢2.147 billion came from the 91-day bill, representing about 50.9% of the total bids.

It was followed by the one-year bill in which about ¢1.646 billion were tendered and all were accepted. It constituted 39.07% of the total bids.

The 182-da, however, received bids worth ¢417.80 million. About ¢416.33 million were accepted.

Overall, the uptake will partly be used to refinance estimated maturities of ¢2.55 billion.