The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Weekly Treasury Bills Auction underperformed for the first time in 8 months.
Bids received by the fiscal agent at this week’s auction amounted to KSh 23.6 billion, a performance rate of 98.2%, with the monetary authority accepting KSh 23.2 billion and rejecting KSh 400 million.
The most attractive instrument remained the 91-day treasury bill, which received bids worth KSh 5.9 billion out of KSh 4 billion worth of bills offered. The CBK accepted bids worth KSh 5.7 billion and rejected KSh 200 million and offered investors an interest rate of 15.8%. This is lower than the 16% and above offered by the monetary authority in previous auctions.
The least attractive instrument was the 6-month treasury bills which received bids worth KSh 6.93 billion out of KSh 10 billion offered with the fiscal accepting KSh 6.92 billion.
The one-year T-Bills received bids worth KSh 10.6 billion out of KSh 10 billion offered with the fiscal accepting the entire amount, a performance rate of 106.44% with successful bidders receiving a return of 16.49%.
For the past few weeks, the CBK has been driving down interest rates offered to investors at the primary auction, a development that has led to many foreign investors giving the auction a wide berth.