How (and when) to invest on Treasury Bills in Kenya

The following are instructions on how and when to invest on Government Treasury Bills:

1. Any potential investor MUST have an active and updated CDS account at Central Bank of Kenya.
2. 91-, 182- and 364-days Treasury bills are sold weekly.
3. Each new offer is advertised in the Daily Nation Newspaper on Fridays and is available also on this site or from the previous action results which are always availed here.
4. Investors MUST correctly and appropriately complete Treasury Bills application form available at the Central Bank of Kenya head office Nairobi or any of its branches in Eldoret, Kisumu and Mombasa or currency centres in Meru, Nyeri and Nakuru or can go ahead and download the form from here.
5. The duly completed application form must be submitted to Central Bank (or branches) on or before 00pm on Thursdays for 91-days and on Wednesdays for the 182- and 364-days papers.
6. Investors may place their application either as competitive or non-competitive (average) bids.
7. Competitive bidders (investors who quote a price or interest rate) MUST indicate the desired price/yield and usually monitor and understand the movements in interest rates and market conditions. However, such bids may either be accepted or rejected depending on interest rates and liquidity levels. There is no maximum amount per bid per investor for competitive bidders.
8. On the other hand, non-competitive bidders indicate ‘Average’ or ‘Non-Competitive’ in the place of offer price per Ksh.100 in the application forms. Since this category is a price-taker of market outcome (successful weighted average rate/price), their placement is guaranteed. However, maximum amount one can invest per CDS account per issue/tenor is 20,000,000.
9. Application forms should be deposited in the tender boxes marked “Treasury bills” at any branch (or currency centre) of Central Bank by 2.00pm on Wednesday for 182- and 364-days papers and on Thursday for the 91-days paper.

Next we shall look at who can invest in Treasury Bills in Kenya, how to determine your return on a Treasury Bill and when to know what amounts to pay Central Bank after application.