Issuances are conducted monthly with issuance amounts determined by the Joint Bank of Botswana/Ministry of Finance Technical Bond Auction Committee. Issuance typically target benchmark bonds with the objective of developing a risk-free yield curve that can be used by market participants as a reference for pricing other instruments. The targeted benchmark bonds are the 2-year, 5-year, 10-year and the 20-year maturities and they provide the standard against which the performance of other bonds in the market can be measured. On the short end of the yield curve the Bank conducts monthly auctions of treasury bills (T-Bills) with maturities of 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. Through the Financial Markets Department, the Bank continues to work with market participants to explore initiatives to improve the functioning of the domestic bond market, including enhancing market liquidity. Botswana Government Bonds have been included in the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) African Bond Index. The African Bond Index is expected to provide comprehensive data to investors interested in investing in African bond markets. It therefore, serves as a pricing benchmark reference for investors in Africa.