The Bank of Uganda (BoU) has raised Ush1.3 trillion ($339 million) in a rare private placement Treasury bond auction this week, against a target of Ush1.5 trillion ($391.6 million), results of the auction showed on Thursday.

The private placement bond auction was the first since June 2022.

The bank typically sells government bonds monthly through open auctions, but in 2020 began selling some bonds using private placements where it invites only specific banks to take part in the offer as opposed to customary open auctions.

In this week’s auction, three-year, five-year, 10-year, 15-year and 20-year Treasury bonds were on offer and the central bank received bids worth Ush2.3 trillion ($600.5 million).

The debt notes are due to mature at various dates between 2026 and 2043.

Eight banks were invited to participate in the auction, including local units of global lenders Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Citibank and Absa.