In a bid to finance the budget deficit and help manage liquidity in the banking system, the Debt Management Office, DMO, has raised a total of N304 billion from the sales of both short-dated Treasury Bills (TBs) and FGN bonds.
A breakdown shows that the debt office raised N183.24 billion from TBs auction on Wednesday, September 14, with mixed yields on all the tenors.
It also raised N121 billion in an auction of FGN bonds with yields higher across the board. The debt office raised N48.10 billion of three-month paper at 14 per cent, down from 14.38 per cent at the August 31 auction. It also sold N48.45 billion worth of the six-month paper at 17.77 per cent, higher than the previous 17.50 per cent.
A total of N86.69 billion was sold in the one year debt at 18.48 per cent against 18.42 per cent at the last auction. As for the bonds, the debt office also sold N15 billion of 2021 paper at 15.14 per cent at Wednesday’s auction, compared with 15.08 per cent at the previous auction last month.
It also sold N30 billion of 2026 debt at 15.53 per cent, against 15.28 per cent, and N60 billion of 2036 debt at 15.59 per cent, compared with 15.53 per cent.
The debt office also allotted an additional N16 billion worth of the 2021 debt on a non-competitive basis to mandate clients. The Federal Government has said it would borrow about N900 billion locally to finance part of the N2.2 trillion deficit in its 2016 budget to plug shortfalls.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had repaid around N293 billion in matured bills to some commercial banks last Thursday, increasing liquidity and forcing down borrowing costs among banks.
