The UK Debt Management Office (DMO), the Treasury agency that sells government debt, held three gilt auctions between 4 and 18 August 2026. It sold £4,250m of the 4.625% Treasury Gilt 2032 on 4 August at an average accepted yield of 4.613%1, £1,500m of the 1.125% Index-linked Treasury Gilt 2035 on 12 August at a real yield of 1.725%2, and £4,000m of the 4.875% Treasury Gilt 2036 on 18 August at 5.155%3. A gilt means lending money to the government for a fixed term; the yield is what the lender earns, and at auction it is set by what buyers are willing to pay.
Every one of the three was covered several times over. Bid-to-cover ratios ran from 3.34 on the 2032 to 3.65 on the 2036, meaning between three and four pounds were bid for every pound of debt on sale45. That ratio is the number to watch for a buyers' strike, and nothing in the window resembled one. What did move was the price: the 2036 cleared above 5%, and a higher clearing yield means a higher coupon bill on everything issued at that level from now on.
The existing stock absorbs that slowly. At 30 June 2026 the gilt portfolio had an average maturity of 13.44 years, and 24.4% of it was index-linked, meaning gilts whose payments rise automatically with inflation6. That 24.4% is a share of the outstanding stock, not of what the DMO is issuing this year, and the two get confused constantly. A long average maturity means only a fraction of the debt is refinanced each year, so August's yields reach the interest bill gradually rather than at once, and last month's net debt figure of £2,989.9bn moves on a slower clock than the market does.
