The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has successfully raised N1.68 trillion from Open Market Operations (OMO) bills sold to investors, including local banks and foreign portfolio investors, at an average stop rate of 19.32%.
This significant fundraising effort followed strong demand from investors during a primary market auction conducted on Thursday. The CBN initially offered N600 billion worth of OMO bills, but due to overwhelming interest, total subscriptions reached N1.88 trillion. This resulted in the apex bank allotting N1.68 trillion in OMO bills.
Investment firm CardinalStone Partners Limited confirmed these figures, noting that investors primarily focused on 355-day and 362-day tenors.
In February, the CBN held only one OMO auction, indicating a strategic shift in liquidity management. Analysts at Erad Partners Limited explained that the absence of aggressive OMO issuances contributed to a 400-basis-point decline in yields, as excess liquidity remained in the system. This excess liquidity increased demand for fixed-income securities, driving interest rates lower in the secondary market.
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