Treasury bills on 1 October: a 12.15% 91-day rate, 10bp under the lending window

October 1, 2026

Wordless fine-line illustration: A water tank on a stand with a low spillway: a hand lets in a thin stream while a gauge-keeper watches the level against a painted ceiling mark

The calendar puts an extra Type A bill session on Thursday 1 October, at the end of a week in which pricing turned up.

Banco de Moçambique’s second-half calendar lists an additional Treasury bill session for Thursday 1 October 2026, the last day of a week that began with a Monday extra session and included a Wednesday that carried three operations. As we write, in late September, the result is still to come, but the week’s earlier auctions already set the number to watch: a 91-day weighted rate of 12.15%.

That is 290 basis points above the 9.25% MIMO rate and only 10 basis points below the 12.25% charged at the central bank’s permanent lending window. When the State’s short paper prices that close to the ceiling of the corridor, the 1 October session shows how hard the Treasury is competing with banks’ own liquidity needs.

What the calendar provides

The central bank has pre-announced a dense week, ending with a bills-only session.

The calendar of central-bank interventions in the money market, dated 26 June 2026, shows for the week in question an additional Type A bill session on Monday 28 September, overnight repo and reverse repo on Tuesday 29 September, and on Wednesday 30 September a one-month reverse repo, seven-day repo and reverse repo, and another additional bill session. Thursday 1 October carries one more additional Type A session. The next regular Type A and seven-day repo session is on Wednesday 7 October.

A separate calendar covers Type B bills. Its September placement was on 21 September, settled on 23 September; the next is announced on 22 October for placement on 26 October. So 1 October is a Type A session only, and these are the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day bills priced at weekly auctions.

What the last auctions priced

The 91-day rate bottomed at 12.05% on 21 September and was back to 12.15% by 28 September.

Reading the central bank’s auction series, the 91-day weighted rate was 12.11% on 2 September, 12.10% on 9 September and 12.11% on 16 September, then 12.05% on 21 and 22 September and 12.07% on 23 September. On 28 September it was 12.15%, and 12.15% again on 30 September.

The 28 September session took MT7.0bn of 91-day bills against an offer of MT6.9bn, plus MT1.98bn at 182 days and MT0.81bn at 364 days. On 30 September the Treasury took MT3.51bn at 91 days, MT0.71bn at 182 days and MT0.16bn at 364 days. The 364-day rate was 12.09% in both sessions, lower than the 91-day rate, so the curve was flat to inverted at the front.

The Type B bills placed on 21 September drew MT1.79bn at 12.17% for 182 days against an offer of MT1.0bn, and MT0.61bn at 12.09% for 364 days against MT1.0bn.

How the price is set

Bills compete for a fixed pool of bank cash that the central bank also manages.

Banks hold most of this paper, and their purchasing power is the cash they hold above reserve requirements. The central bank adjusts that cash through repo and reverse repo, as the Wednesday calendar shows. If it drains cash, banks bid for bills at higher rates or bid less. If it injects, the bid is easier.

Because the lending window at 12.25% is the price of last-resort cash, a bank has little reason to buy a bill yielding much less than that unless it expects to stay in surplus. The 12.15% clearing rate is a statement that surplus was tight in the last week of September. The Treasury has also been refinancing longer: Jornal Económico reported MT5.06bn placed in two bond operations on 9 September, with interest rates around 13%, matching total demand. In June, Club of Mozambique reported, a five-year exchange issue fixed a 13.25% rate, so long paper costs about a point more than the bills.

What to watch on the day

Three readings will show whether the October turn is a blip or a trend.

First, the 91-day rate. A print at or above 12.15% would extend the week’s rise; a return towards 12.05% would say the 28 September move was a one-session squeeze. Second, coverage: whether demand matches or exceeds the offer in the 91-day bill, as it did on both 28 and 30 September. Third, whether the 182-day and 364-day lines draw any bids, because several earlier sessions in the series cleared nothing there.

For a company, the practical use is on the borrowing side. Bank overdraft and short-term credit pricing follows the cost of funds that the 91-day rate signals. A treasurer planning October drawdowns can compare the 1 October result with the 7 October session before agreeing a rate, and should ask any bank quoting more than the lending window rate what justifies it.