By Boluwatife Oshadiya │ October 28, 2026
Key Points
- CBN schedules an ₦800 billion Treasury bills auction for Wednesday, October 28, across 91-day, 182-day and 364-day maturities
- The 364-day instrument accounts for ₦600 billion, or 75% of the total offer
- Average secondary-market Treasury bills yield eases one basis point to 17.92% as investors position ahead of the auction
Main Story
Investors are positioning in Nigeria’s secondary Treasury bills market ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ₦800 billion primary market auction scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, 2026, as they seek to secure yields before any further monetary easing.
The CBN is offering ₦100 billion each in 91-day and 182-day bills, alongside ₦600 billion in 364-day securities. The longest tenor represents 75% of the total offer, making it the largest allocation in the auction.
Investment firms reported that the average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills in the secondary market declined by one basis point to 17.92% ahead of the auction. The movement indicates a modest easing in average yields as investors assess potential stop rates at the primary market sale.
The pre-auction positioning comes after the CBN reduced its Monetary Policy Rate by a cumulative 350 basis points, according to the supplied market report. Lower benchmark rates can affect the returns investors seek on short-term government securities, although auction stop rates also depend on investor demand, the volume offered and the CBN’s decisions.
AAG Capital Limited’s pre-auction research note projected a marginal increase in cutoff rates, citing the larger supply of bills and investors’ demand for higher yields despite easing inflation and ample liquidity in the interbank market. The firm also indicated that intervention by the CBN could alter the final stop rates across the different maturities.
The auction is the final Treasury bills offering scheduled for October. Its outcome will provide an indication of how investors balance the opportunity to lock in current yields against expectations for monetary policy and short-term interest rates.
What’s Being Said
AAG Capital Limited expects cutoff rates to increase marginally, according to the pre-auction research note described in the supplied report. The CBN’s stated offer schedule sets the amount available across the three tenors, but the supplied material does not contain a direct CBN quotation explaining its pricing strategy or its expectations for the auction.
What’s Next
- Wednesday, October 28: Investors submit bids for the ₦800 billion Treasury bills auction; the resulting stop rates and subscription levels will indicate demand across the three maturities.
- After the auction: Market participants will assess the results against secondary-market yields and AAG Capital’s forecast of marginally higher cutoff rates.
- Following the auction: Investors will continue to monitor CBN monetary policy decisions and liquidity conditions when determining whether to extend or reposition their Treasury bills holdings.
Bottom Line
The Bottom Line: The ₦600 billion allocation to 364-day bills gives investors the largest opportunity in this auction to lock in returns for a longer period than the shorter tenors. However, the final stop rates will depend on bidding and the CBN’s auction decisions, not simply on expectations of further monetary easing.
