Treasury goes for Ksh.50 billion in March bonds

The National Treasury has set its sights on raising Ksh.50 billion from the domestic market through the sale of Treasury bonds this month.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has reopened two bonds maturing in eight and 17.4 years respectively which are open for trading until Tuesday next week.

The CBK will be seeking to keep expensive bidders for the bond issuance’s at bay targeting interest rates of 12.4 and 13.2 per cent.

The exchequer will be hoping to overcome a recent tightening in local financing conditions which saw it miss out on dual-bond target last month.

Bonds issued in February for instance only managed to raise Ksh.33 billion against a higher target of Ksh.68 billion.

The shirt-time eight year re-opened issue is expected to draw greater interests as investors in government securities avoid risks attached to long-dated bond issues.

Treasury will additionally seek to pull back its domestic borrowing program back in line after hiccups faced in February.

According to data from its second quarterly economic and budget review (QEBR) published this week, net domestic financing in six months to December 31, 2020 stood at a higher Ksh.345 billion against a lower target of Ksh.269 billion.