Mali’s National Treasury secured CFA38.23 billion during an auction of Treasury bills and government bonds on the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) financial market on Wednesday, September 30, missing its overall target of CFA40 billion after a five-year bond issue failed to attract investor interest.
Although total demand reached CFA44.49 billion—yielding a bid coverage ratio of 111.21 percent—investors concentrated capital almost entirely on shorter maturities, leading treasury authorities to retain 95.58 percent of the offered volume and reject CFA6.25 billion in bids scheduled for settlement on October 1.
Investor risk appetite leaned heavily toward medium-term instruments, with three-year bonds generating the vast majority of capital raised at CFA33.79 billion allocated from CFA36.04 billion in bids, yielding an average return of 7.74 percent. Conversely, 364-day Treasury bills secured CFA4.44 billion at a weighted average yield of 4.90 percent, while the five-year, 6.20 percent coupon bond maturing in 2031 recorded zero bids, shifting away from the previous mid-September sale when the same maturity generated CFA5 billion. Domestic financial institutions provided the largest regional support, accounting for 64.1 percent (CFA24.5 billion) of allocated funds, followed by banking intermediaries established in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Benin. The latest transaction pushes Mali’s total market borrowing to approximately CFA1,207.35 billion for 2026, representing over 83 percent of its annual CFA1,450 billion regional financing mandate as the government works to cover its remaining debt service and budgetary obligations before year-end.
MD/te/Sf/lb/abj/APA