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91-day T-bill uptake low as investors eye one-year tenor

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Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) accepted Sh32.03 billion from the Sh52.53 billion worth of bids received. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The 91-day Treasury bill experienced a sluggish uptake at the latest weekly auction, as investors focus shifted to the one-year tenor.

This was despite the overall performance rate of the weekly auctions hitting 218.89 per cent in last week’s sale.

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) accepted Sh32.03 billion from the Sh52.53 billion worth of bids received.

Analysts at investment bank Genghis Capital said investor apathy towards the 91-day tenor led to the sub-par uptake, even as they remained upbeat on the one year paper.

“We still expect continued uptake of the 364-day tenor paper in the market, which has been starved of a shorter-term Treasury bond in the recent primary bond sales,” said the analysts in an email response.

Yields on the 91-day, 182- and 364-day papers declined by two basis points (bps), 20bps and four bps to 7.7 per cent, 9.3 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively.

The 364-day paper attracted bids worth Sh37.72 billion against an offer of Sh10 billion, a 377.29 per cent performance rate. The Treasury accepted Sh19.58 billion.