Government raised a total of ¢70.95 billion in the money market auctions for 2022.
This is out of total bids worth ¢72.83bn.
However, the amount government expect to raise in 2023 may exceed that of 2022. This is because the treasury market is presently the only source of borrowing for government.
Yields on the money market securities surged significantly in 2022 as investors priced the higher inflation into yields to improve real returns.
Consequently, the yield on the benchmark 91-day increased from 12.51% (December 2021) to settle at 35.36% (December 2022).
The yields have since retreated as the 91-day Treasury bill is presently going for 19.04% (March 10, 2023).
The 182-day bill has also plunged by about 13%, going to 22.84%, whilst that of the 364-day bill dropped by about 9% to 26.82%.
It is expected that the yield will go down in the coming weeks, reducing government’s debt service burden.
In 2022, the government’s total spending was ¢109.42 billion (18.5% of Gross Domestic Product), exceeding the target by 5.2%. The primary driver for the fiscal slippage was interest payments.