Zimbabwe’s central bank said today it is seeking bids for subscribers to 91-day Treasury Bills (TBs) in the country’s first public auction since 2012.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said it is in the market to raise ZWL$30 million (approximately US$3.3 million) through TBs “to finance Government programmes.”

According to the RBZ, the TBs’ special features include prescribed and liquid asset status, tax exemption and acceptability as collateral for overnight accommodation at the central bank.

The TBs offer opened today, and successful bidders will receive their allotments on Thursday 1, August (tomorrow).

Earlier this month the Zimbabwean Government conducted a TB auction, but Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube said they were only “testing the market.”

“The purpose of this auction was to test the market in terms of appetite for a Treasury Bill auction and to begin to map up the yield curve,” said the Finance Minister at the time.

Those ‘test’ TBs had 91-day, 182-day and 365-day maturities at interest rates of 16.5 percent, 19.6 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

TBs are negotiable instruments issued by Government through the central bank to finance the State’s short-term requirements.

But between 2013 and 2018, the Government has been carrying out private TBs issuances raising concerns that it was practically ‘printing’ money.