In its auctions held in March 2024, the Debt Management Office (DMO) auctioned Treasury Bills (T.bills) for a total value of N2.669 trillion. The sum denotes a month-over-month (MoM) rise of 3.07% (N79.54 billion) in the value of T-bills sold at auction in February 2024 (N2.589 trillion).
Similar to this, in March 2024 the DMO reopened the seven-year (7Y) and 10-year FGN bonds and auctioned FGN bonds valued N608.86 billion (including N133.20 billion from non-competitive bids).
The report noted that the total sale represents a 35.30% oversubscription of the amount offered and a 59.27% (₦886.05 billion) MoM decrease on the amount sold in February 2024 (N1.494 trillion) across the 7Y and 10Y FGN bond maturities.
In March 2024, the CBN sold open market operations (OMO) bills worth N1,056 trillion auction in the primary market.
Corporate bonds: According to the report, there were no new listings of non-sovereign bonds on the FMDQ Exchange in March 2024.
“However, Corporate bonds worth N15.00 billion matured and were redeemed resulting in a 0.68% (N15.00 billion) MoM decrease in the value of Non-Sovereign Bonds outstanding to N2.194 trillion in March 2024,” it said.
The report stated that the total value of commercial papers (CPs) quoted on the FMDQ Exchange in March 2024 was N112.62 billion, representing a MoM increase of 123.76% (N62.29 billion) from the value of CPs quoted in February 2024.
“Quoted CPs were issued by institutions from various sectors including Financial Services (10), Manufacturing (4), Retail (2), Health & Pharmaceuticals (1), Agriculture (1), Technology (1), and Chemical Supply & Oil Field Service (1). However, N39.26 billion CPs matured and were redeemed resulting in a 9.28% (N73.36 billion) MoM increase in the total outstanding value to N864.11 billion in March 2024,” it said.
The research states that secondary market turnover on FMDQ Exchange in March 2024 was N48.87 trillion, up 21.22% (or N8.55 trillion) on a MoM basis and 100.67% (or N24.51 trillion) on a YoY basis compared to February 2024 and March 2023 numbers, respectively.
Money market (MM) and foreign currency (FX) transactions made up the majority of secondary market activity in March 2024, together accounting for 75.36% of the total secondary market turnover.
Spot foreign currency (FX) market turnover in March 2024 was $12.61 billion (N19.29 trillion), according to Bizwatch Nigeria. This is a month-over-month (MoM) increase of 47.66% ($4.07 billion) over the February 2024 data ($8.54 billion).
The report noted that in the FX market, the US dollar marginally depreciated against the naira, with the spot exchange rate ($/N) decreasing by 0.06% ($/N0.97) to close at an average of $/N1,524.04 in March 2024 from $/N1,525.01 recorded in Feb. 2024.
The report said exchange rate volatility increased in March 2024 as the maira traded within an exchange rate range of $/N1,300.43 – $/N1,627.40 compared to $/N1,418.78 – $/N1,665.50 recorded in February 2024.
