Investors shun papers on low returns

The Central Bank of Kenya building in Nairobi. The CBK accepted all the bids for the one-year paper. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By CONSTANT MUNDA
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Summary

• Subscriptions to 91-day Treasury bills fell further during auction last Thursday at just Sh677.22 million or 16.93 percent of the Sh4 billion on offer.

Investors last week shunned three-month government securities amid improved liquidity and reduced returns, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data showed.

The returns fell to lows last seen in July 2013.

Subscriptions to 91-day Treasury bills fell further during auction last Thursday at just Sh677.22 million or 16.93 percent of the Sh4 billion on offer compared with Sh2.94 billion or 73.4 per cent the week before.

The 182-day debt issue also experienced reduced demand with bids coming in at Sh6.14 billion of the Sh10 billion on sale, further depleted from Sh7.76 billion, or 77.61 percent, on February 28.

The CBK, the fiscal agent for the Treasury, accepted all the bids for three-month paper for average yield of 6.886 percent.

The CBK, however, rejected Sh2.30 billion worth of bids for the six-month T-bills with average return for the accepted bids largely unchanged at 8.316 percent. Appetite for the one-year paper, however, grew with the CBK accepting all the bids.