Government secured a little above ¢862 million from the sale of the 5-year Treasury bond, slightly below the 1.0 billion target. According to auctioning results by the Bank of Ghana, government accepted all the bids tendered in. The interest rate was however 20.75%, higher than the 19.75% paid for the 2-year bond issued in February 2022. The Initial Pricing Guidance was between 20% and 20.75%. But Joy Business understands that the price of the debt instrument was in line with secondary market conditions, as investors demanded higher premium for the new issuance. This is as a result of the rising inflation, the depreciation of the cedi and uncertainty about the Bank of Ghana’s policy rate which is creating a higher level of uncertainty about the direction of yields of Government of Ghana bonds. Analysts, however, believe the amount raised was broadly expected given the absence of non-resident investors in the acquisition of the bond. Presently, domestic interest payments accounts for about 78% of total interest rate payments. With the prevailing upside risks to domestic interest rates, aggressive control of government spending is very important since the era of cheap money is over. The 5-year bond will mature in 2027. Absa, Black Star, CalBank, Databank, Ecobank, Fidelity, GCB, IC Securities and Stanbic Bank were the sponsoring firms or bond market specialists.