Understanding Ethiopia’s Treasury bill data

What one auction record represents

An auction number and date identify the event. Within that event, the 28-, 91-, 182- and 364-day maturities have their own reported figures. The total column describes the relevant combined auction measure; it is not an extra maturity.

Offered amount, bids received and accepted amount describe different stages of the auction. Weighted-average and cutoff prices or yields describe different pricing measures. Selecting a record keeps those fields attached to the event that produced them.

A published auction record is not an investor's account statement or a live quote for a new trade. It provides the historical auction observation named by its date.

Read amounts, prices and yields in their own units

An amount labeled ETB millions is a scaled currency amount. A value of 125 in that field means ETB 125 million. A price per ETB 100 is a different scale: a price of 98.50 means ETB 98.50 for each ETB 100 of face value.

A yield labeled annual percent expresses a rate on a yearly basis. It cannot be read as the percentage cash gain over a shorter bill simply because it appears in that bill's column. The holding-period cash outcome depends on purchase outlay, repayment and costs.

Keeping those units attached to the figures prevents the common mistake of comparing an amount with a rate or treating a per-100 price as a full investment budget.

A missing observation is different from zero

A reported zero is a value. An unavailable cell means that a value is not available in that record. Converting every gap to zero would create results that the underlying table did not report.

This matters in both totals and trends. For example, a missing maturity yield should not drag a calculated average toward zero. A gap between chart observations also does not establish that the market rate fell to zero between those dates.

Use the relevant result and its notes when a field looks inconsistent or needs a more detailed interpretation. Preserve the distinction between what is reported and what would have to be assumed.

How the chart and history table fit together

The chart focuses on a selected window of observations. Its recent-auction controls let the reader inspect a shorter or longer span. The history table presents results in pages of 15 rather than displaying the entire record set at once.

Changing a chart window changes the observations shown in that chart. Moving to the next table page shows another part of the history. Neither control means that results outside the current screen have become zero or ceased to exist.

A year selection narrows the comparison to that calendar year. Read the dates after changing a filter, particularly when the selected year has few observations or none.

Build a comparison that keeps the meaning intact

For a yield trend, keep the maturity and measure fixed across dates. For a maturity comparison, use observations from the same auction. For demand, compare bids with the relevant offer or accepted amount and explain which relationship is being measured.

Result notes can define which bid categories enter a weighted average. An auction-wide total yield is therefore not something to reconstruct by taking a simple average of four displayed maturity yields.

The most useful description names the measure, maturity, dates and units. That makes a statement such as a change in the 91-day weighted-average yield understandable and checkable without turning it into a forecast of the next auction.

• Explore the Treasury bill data
• Learn to read an individual auction result