Treasury bill rates drop across all markets
By Faith Lagat, September 20, 2025The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced a decline in interest rates across all tenors of Treasury bills during the auction held on September 18, 2025.
According to the CBK Weekly Bulletin dated September 19, the development reflects active investor participation in government securities.
The auction attracted bids totalling Ksh23.0 billion against an advertised amount of Ksh24.0 billion, achieving a performance rate of 95.7 per cent. “Interest rates on the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills declined,” the CBK said.
The average interest rate for the 91-day Treasury bill fell to 7.946 per cent from 8.000 per cent in the previous auction on August 28. The 182-day bill dropped to 8.010 per cent from 8.050 per cent, while the 364-day bill decreased to 9.537 per cent from 9.569 per cent.
Investor uptake, bids
According to the bulletin, bids for the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills amounted to Ksh4,247.56 million, Ksh5,581.12 million and Ksh13,132.74 million, respectively.
Accepted amounts were Ksh4,117.23 million, Ksh5,575.76 million and Ksh13,024.65 million. These inflows were used to roll over and redeem maturities of Ksh3,732.40 million, Ksh6,719.40 million and Ksh10,555.55 million, respectively.
CBK also released data from the previous week’s auction for issue numbers 2647/091, 2621/182 and 2575/364 dated September 15, 2025. Total bids received reached Ksh38.77 billion against an advertised Ksh24.0 billion, with Ksh28.91 billion accepted. Market-weighted average interest rates were 7.97 per cent for the 91-day, 8.02 per percent for the 182-day and 9.55 per cent for the 364-day Treasury bills.
“During the Treasury bond auction of September 17, the reopened 20-year and 25-year Treasury bonds received bids totalling Ksh 97.3 billion against an advertised amount of Ksh 40.0 billion, representing a performance of 243.2 per cent.”
Bond auction
The Treasury bond auction of September 17 reinforced investor appetite. The reopened 20-year and 25-year Treasury bonds received bids totalling Ksh97.3 billion against an advertised KSh40.0 billion, representing a performance of 243.2 per cent. Bond interest rates remained at 13.58 per cent and 14.14 per cent.
In the domestic secondary market, bond turnover increased by 36.67 per cent during the week ending September 18, 2025. Internationally, yields on Kenya’s Eurobonds decreased by 5.21 basis points on average, with specific declines noted across tenors.
“Bond turnover in the domestic secondary market increased by 36.67 per cent during the week ending September 18, 2025 (Table 6). In the international market, yields on Kenya’s Eurobonds decreased by 5.21 basis points on average. Yields for Angola and Côte d’Ivoire also decreased,” read the report.
The CBK has scheduled the next Treasury bill auctions for September 22, 2025, again offering Ksh24.0 billion across the three terms. Investors are required to submit bids electronically via DhocSD or Treasury Mobile Direct by 2.00 pm on September 18, with payments to reach CBK accounts by September 22.