Treasury bills worth MVR 4.2 billion have been offered on sale, with the Ministry of Finance issuing bills worth MVR 2.2 billion at a 28-day maturity period, MVR 263.4 million with a maturity of 98 days, MVR 69 million at a 182-day maturity, and MVR 1.7 billion maturing in 364 days.
According to the Ministry of Finance’s Annual Borrowing Plan (ABP), the state will need to cover a MVR 16.31 billion deficit in 2024. The 2024 budget projects a MVR 14.08 billion deficit while the principal repayments of external and domestic debt is set to cost the state an additional MVR 2.23 billion. The ministry is looking to fund the gap, as per the ABP, by issuing treasury bills and treasury bonds priced at MVR 3.95 billion within the domestic market and to raise the remaining MVR 12.36 billion through project loans, sustainable financing, loans and bonds via external sources.
Additonally, the Ministry on Tuesday issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking institutional investors to secure up to US$550 million through loans and treasury securities in line with the 2024 ABP.
T-bills are usually issued by the Ministry of Finance to raise money to meet the state’s cash flow requirements and are usually sold to the pension fund, banks, some government-owned companies, and private companies, with interest rates on the bills ranging from 3.50 percent to 4.60 percent.
T-bills are short-term debt instruments issued by the government to raise funds and are issued at a discount, where the buyer receives the face value of the issue upon maturity.