Ghana government to borrow GH¢24.5b in first quarter of 2022
The Ghana government plans to borrow GH¢24.5 billion in the first quarter of 2022 through the issuance of various securities.
Out of the total, GH¢20.7 billion will be used to rollover maturing debts while the remaining fresh issuance will be for government’s financing requirements.
This was contained in the Issuance Calendar released by the Bank of Ghana for the period January to March, 2022.
The calendar is part of efforts to improve market transparency in the issuance of government securities.
According to the data, the government will borrow as much as GH¢11.3 billion of the 91-day T-bills during the period, while 182-day T-Bills would mobilise a total of GH¢3 billion ahead of the issuance of GH¢1.6 billion in March 2022.
It said GH¢2.15 billion would, however, be mobilised from the 364-day bills with GH¢2 billion also expected to be raised from a 6-year bond, expected to be done in January 2022.
The government is expected to issue a 7-year and 10-year bond in February and March 2022, respectively with GH¢1.2 billion and GH¢800 million expected to be borrowed from both resident and non-resident investors.
The Calendar is developed based on the Net Domestic Financing provided in the 2022 Budget, and the 2022 domestic maturities for the period.
It was also developed based on the 2022 Borrowing Plan and the Medium Term Debt Strategy.
The statement said it depicted the securities that were intended to be issued in respect of Government’s Public Sector Borrowing Requirements for the period January to March 2022.
It said per the calendar, the government aimed at building benchmark bonds through the issuance of instruments.
The statement said the 91-day and 182-day issuances would be done weekly; while the 364-day bill would be issued bi-weekly, also through the primary auction with settlement being the transaction date plus one working day.
It said the securities of 2-year up to 10-year bonds would be issued through the book-building method.
The statement, said to be consistent with the MTDS, the government may announce tap-ins/reopening of other existing instruments depending on market conditions.
It said the government intended to update the Issuance Calendar on a monthly rolling basis, to reflect a full quarter financing programme.
The statement said in the development of the Calendar, the government took into consideration its liability management programme, market developments (both domestic and international) and the Treasury & Debt Management objective of lengthening the maturity profile of the public debt.
It said the government expected that the January to March 2022 Calendar met the requirements of market participants.
It, therefore, assured stakeholders and the public that it (government) would continue to strive for greater predictability and transparency in the domestic bond market.
Source: GNA