Year's First T-bill Auction Garners 16.5b Br in Bids

Jul 23 , 2022


The central bank's first auction of treasury bills (T-bills) in the new fiscal year saw 16.5 billion Br in bids. The government-guaranteed bonds are auctioned off bi-monthly to financial institutions, pension funds and individuals. The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) had brought bills valued at close to 24 billion Br to the table. T-bills with 365-day maturity periods garnered the most offers (5.9 billion Br) during the auction on July 13, 2022. The cutoff yield for the bills stood at 10.3pc, three percentage points higher than the minimum interest rate offered on savings. The federal government has resorted to the sale of treasury bills (T-bills) to respond to a growing budget deficit, which had hit 123 billion Br by the end of the last financial year. Outstanding public debt through the sale of T-bills shot up by 110pc to 253 billion Br last year.


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