CHAMWE KAIRA
South Africa’s National Treasury has reduced its planned fixed-rate and inflation-linked bond auction amounts by a combined R700 million following the tabling of the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Framework.
The treasury announced that the competitive fixed-rate bond amount will decrease by R600 million to R1.95 billion, while the inflation-linked bond amount will be reduced by R100 million to R900 million.
The changes will take effect from the fixed-rate bond auction scheduled for 3 November 2026, settling on 9 November, and the inflation-linked bond auction scheduled for 30 October 2026, settling on 5 November.
The treasury said the non-competitive fixed-rate bond allocation would remain unchanged at 75% of the amount offered.
Of this allocation, 45% will be distributed through the electronic trading platform, while 30% will be offered through the primary auction.
Floating-rate note and switch auctions will continue as part of the government’s funding strategy and will be conducted according to the auction calendars published on the treasury’s investor relations website.
The treasury is also introducing a bond buyback programme as an additional liability management tool to manage large debt redemptions falling due over the medium term.
The programme is intended to help the government manage its debt obligations as significant redemptions approach.
In a separate development, the treasury has appointed FirstRand Bank Limited to distribute and administer RSA Retail Savings Bonds under a three-year service level agreement.
The appointment follows a competitive request-for-proposal process launched in 2025, with implementation scheduled for June 2027.
South Africa is a major investment market for Namibian pension funds and investment managers.
According to the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority’s (Namfisa) assets under management within the Common Monetary Area, which includes South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, represented 34.7% in its latest assessment, while 12.9% was invested in offshore markets.
