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Tanzania’s Treasury bill auction sees strong demand for long-term paper
What you need to know:
- The auction results, published on the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) website on Thursday, 14 August 2025, show that the 364-day bill stole the spotlight, attracting Sh226.5375 billion in tenders, over three times the Sh75 billion offered, resulting in an oversubscription of Sh151.5375 billion
Dar es Salaam. The latest Treasury Bill auction has drawn robust investor interest, particularly in the one-year paper, with bids far exceeding supply despite a dip in yields.
The auction results, published on the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) website on Thursday, 14 August 2025, show that the 364-day bill stole the spotlight, attracting Sh226.5375 billion in tenders, over three times the Sh75 billion offered, resulting in an oversubscription of Sh151.5375 billion.
Successful bids matched the offer at Sh75 billion, with a weighted average yield of 6.9 percent, down from earlier highs this year.
This reflects the BoT’s selective acceptance to optimise borrowing costs, amid consistent yield compression observed across recent auctions.
This oversubscription, particularly pronounced in longer maturities, underscores ample market liquidity and confidence in short-term government securities, aligning with broader 2025 trends of falling borrowing costs.
The auction covered four maturities: 35-day, 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day bills.
The 91-day bill also saw strong demand, with tenders of Sh11.4 billion against Sh1.9 billion offered (6x oversubscription), yielding 7.3 percent on average.
The 182-day instrument drew Sh5.8 billion in bids versus Sh2.9 billion offered (2x), with a yield of 7.8 percent, the highest among the tenors, possibly indicating mid-term liquidity preferences.
In contrast, the 35-day bill was fully subscribed at Sh900 million, with a yield of 6.4 percent.
Weighted average prices for successful bids ranged from 99.3806 (35-day) to 93.5483 (364-day), with minimum successful bids reflecting competitive pricing.
Overall, the auction accepted Sh80.7 billion, fully meeting the target.
This performance builds on 2025’s pattern of robust participation, as seen in prior auctions such as No. 1181 in July.
Experts attribute the trend to Tanzania’s economic stability, with central bank rates at 5.75 percent and inflation below 4 percent.
Proceeds will support fiscal operations, including infrastructure.
