The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised over N626 billion from its recent Treasury bill sales, conducted on Wednesday to absorb excess liquidity from the market. The auction attracted significant interest, with the CBN’s offering being oversubscribed.
Auction results indicated a rise in spot rates across short-, mid-, and long-term maturities as the CBN aimed to stimulate demand amidst reduced market liquidity.
Organized by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of the CBN, the primary market auction received strong investor interest, with bids totaling N669.93 billion across the three standard maturity periods.
The offer was split into 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day Treasury bills, with the results highlighting a strong investor preference for longer-term bills. Analysts noted that 97% of subscriptions targeted the 364-day bills, with an overall bid-to-cover ratio of 1.30x, slightly lower than the 1.31x in the previous auction.
The DMO ultimately allotted N626.33 billion in Treasury bills, 22% higher than the initial N513.43 billion offered. Local investors largely favored the 364-day bills, which represented 97% of the total allotment.
Stop rates for all tenors increased, with 91-day and 182-day bills each rising by 100 basis points to 18% and 18.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, the 364-day Treasury bill rate rose by 235 basis points, reaching 22.114% from 19.864% in the prior auction.
