How to buy Treasury bills and bonds in Tanzania (2026)

Tanzania's government borrows from the public by selling Treasury bills (short-term) and Treasury bonds (long-term). For a saver, they're the lowest-risk way to earn a return — you're lending to the government itself — and they often pay more than a bank savings account. Here's how they work and how to buy them.

Bills vs bonds

• Treasury bills are short-term, issued in maturities of 35, 91, 182 and 364 days. You buy them at a discount and receive the full face value at maturity — the difference is your return.
• Treasury bonds are long-term, issued in maturities of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years, and pay interest (a coupon) every six months until maturity.

The Bank of Tanzania publishes an issuance calendar each financial year so you can see which auctions are coming.

How the discount actually works (a worked illustration)

Bills confuse people because no "interest" ever appears — the return is baked into the price. Suppose an auction prices a 364-day bill such that you pay TZS 900,000 today for a face value of TZS 1,000,000 at maturity. Your return is the TZS 100,000 difference — earned simply by holding to the end. (These numbers are purely illustrative arithmetic, not a current yield: the real price is set by bidding at each auction, and it moves. Always check the latest auction results on bot.go.tz.)

Two consequences worth noticing:

• You know your outcome on day one. Buy at the auction price, hold to maturity, and the shillings you'll receive are fixed — no market suspense in between.
• The quoted "yield" and your lived return are the same thing only if you hold to maturity. Sell early on the exchange and the price that day decides your result instead.

What it costs to start

• Treasury bills: minimum bid TZS 500,000, in multiples of TZS 10,000.
• Treasury bonds: minimum TZS 1,000,000, in multiples of TZS 100,000.

The interest rate isn't fixed in advance — it's set at each auction by what investors bid, so the yield moves from one auction to the next. Check the latest auction results on the Bank of Tanzania website rather than relying on an old figure.

How to buy — step by step

1. Open a CSD account (Central Securities Depository) through a commercial bank or a DSE-licensed broker. You can't buy directly from the BoT as an individual — a bank or broker submits your bid for you. Bring the same KYC you'd use to open a bank account: NIDA, and your bank account details for payments.
2. Watch the auction calendar on bot.go.tz for the next bill or bond you want.
3. Submit your bid through your bank or broker before the auction closes, specifying the tenor and amount. Ask your bank whether it submits your bid non-competitively (you accept the auction's resulting rate — simplest for individuals) or competitively (you name your rate and risk missing allocation if you bid too high). For most first-time buyers, taking the auction's average outcome is the practical route.
4. Pay for the accepted amount after allocation; the security is recorded in your CSD account.
5. Hold to maturity for the full return, or sell early on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, where government securities are listed for secondary trading.

Ask your bank or broker upfront what fees apply — submission, custody or transaction charges vary by institution and eat into a small investment's return proportionally more than a large one's.

Laddering: the strategy that fixes the lock-up problem

The main drawback of a bill or bond is that your money is spoken for until maturity. A ladder softens that without giving up the returns:

• Instead of putting, say, TZS 1.5 million into one 364-day bill, split it across three auctions into three TZS 500,000 bills with staggered maturities.
• From then on, something matures every few months — cash you can spend if life demands it, or roll into a fresh bill if it doesn't.
• Rolling maturities also average your rate across auctions, so you're never entirely stuck with one unlucky auction's pricing.

Bonds reward the same thinking on a longer clock: their six-monthly coupons create a regular income stream, which is why longer bonds appeal to people building toward or living in retirement.

How they fit a savings plan

Government securities are the natural home for money you want to keep safe and growing, especially amounts above the Deposit Insurance Board limit — a Treasury security is a direct obligation of the government, not a deposit exposed to a single bank. They're also the sensible, regulated alternative to the high-risk offshore forex platforms that market themselves so aggressively.

The sequencing matters, though: securities lock money up, so they come after an accessible emergency buffer exists, not instead of one — the full ladder is laid out in how to save and invest. And if your horizon is long and you can stomach movement in prices, DSE-listed shares are the next rung up in risk and potential return — see how to invest in shares.

To see what a lump sum plus regular saving could grow to, use the savings and compound-interest calculator, and compare bank fixed-deposit rates as an easier-access alternative for smaller amounts.

Bills or bonds: matching the instrument to your plan

Both lend to the same borrower, so the choice is about timing, not safety:

• Choose bills (35 to 364 days) when the money has a known near-term job — school fees next year, a planned purchase, or a cash buffer you want working harder than a current account while it waits. You get your money back on a date you chose.
• Choose bonds (5 to 25 years) when you are building long-term wealth and can genuinely leave the capital alone. The six-monthly coupon turns the holding into an income stream, which is why bonds suit people approaching or in retirement.
• Choose neither yet if you have no accessible emergency fund. Securities lock money away; an emergency that arrives before maturity forces you to sell into whatever price the market offers that day. Build the buffer first — see how to save and invest.

A useful way to think about the trade-off: the longer you lend, the more you are compensated, but the more you are exposed to the possibility that circumstances change. Match the term to a date you can actually name.

What happens at maturity

Nothing dramatic — but knowing the mechanics prevents a nasty surprise:

• On the maturity date, the face value is credited through your bank or broker to the account linked to your CSD. Confirm at purchase which account that is, and check the money lands.
• Bonds pay coupons twice a year in the meantime, into that same account.
• Reinvestment is a decision, not a default. Some investors roll each maturity into the next auction automatically; others take the cash. Decide deliberately, because money that quietly sits in a current account after maturity is money that stopped working.
• Keep your contact and bank details current with your bank or broker. Payments that cannot reach you are the most avoidable problem in this whole process.

Common mistakes first-time buyers make

• Bidding money they will need. The single most common error. Sell early and you accept the market's price, which may be less than you paid.
• Ignoring the fees. Ask what your bank or broker charges to submit a bid and to hold the securities. On a small purchase, fees eat proportionally more of the return.
• Assuming a fixed return. The rate is set at each auction. Anyone quoting you a guaranteed yield for a future auction is guessing — check the Bank of Tanzania's published results instead.
• Waiting for the "right" auction. Auctions run on a published calendar all year. Time in the market matters far more than an optimal entry, and a ladder removes the timing question entirely.
• Forgetting the paperwork. Keep your CSD details, contract notes and maturity confirmations together — they are what make claiming and reinvesting painless.

Frequently asked questions

What return do Treasury bills pay? It changes at every auction, because the rate is set by bidding. The Bank of Tanzania publishes each auction's results — always check the current figure rather than a number you saw months ago.

Is my money safe? Government securities carry the credit of the government itself, which is why they're treated as the benchmark low-risk investment. The main practical risk is tying money up for the term — sell early on the DSE only if you accept the market price on the day.

How much do I need to start? TZS 500,000 for a Treasury bill, or TZS 1,000,000 for a bond. If that's more than you have spare right now, a bank savings or fixed deposit is the lower-entry starting point while you build toward the minimum.

Is the interest taxed? Tax treatment of government-securities income has its own rules and has changed over time — confirm the current withholding treatment for your situation with your bank, broker or the TRA before you rely on a net figure. Our tax guide explains how investment income fits into the wider picture.

Can I lose money on a Treasury bond? Held to maturity, you receive the face value and every coupon — the government would have to default for that to fail. The way people actually lose money is selling early into an unfavourable market price, which is a timing decision, not a credit event. Buy with a horizon you can keep.

Last reviewed: July 2026.