Investors heavily avoided the September Treasury Bond Tap Sale pointing to a lack of trust in the government to repay its debt.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), National Treasury’s fiscal agent had re-opened a two-year and a ten-year Ksh.15 billion Treasury Bond for auction on Sept 22, 2023.
Out of Ksh.15 billion auction, only Ksh.3.4 billion was received but Ksh.3.3 billion was accepted.
A two-year tap sale attracted Ksh.2.63 billion compared to a ten-year Bond which attracted a mere Ksh.814 million.
This deals a major blow to the government in an effort to support debt repayment plans.
The last time investors heavily avoided T-Bond was in April this year when the CBK managed to raise only Ksh.7.3 billion from Ksh.30 billion bid.
Undersubscription in T-Bonds indicates that investors prefer faster and better returns on their investment elsewhere compared to investing in Bonds.
Treasury Bills Undersubscribed
The same case applied to the Treasury Bills (T-Bills) which remained undersubscribed at 56 percent when the CBK raised Ksh.13.6 billion out of Ksh.24 billion offered.
Investors went for shorter 91-day tenure which attracted Ksh.11 billion out of Ksh.4 billion offered.
Both 182 and 365-day tenure were undersubscribed at Ksh.809 million and Ksh.1.8 billion out of Ksh.10 billion and Ksh.10 billion bids offered, respectively.
