CBN Treasury Bills Auction Sees N3.63tn Demand

On Wednesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted a primary market auction for treasury bills, where investors submitted N3.63tn for the 364-day T-bill, accounting for 95.9% of the total N3.79tn bids across three maturities. This demand occurred despite the CBN reducing the stop rate on the one-year instrument by 44 basis points to 17.15%, down from 17.59% at the previous auction.

The CBN had offered N700bn, including N100bn each for the 91-day and 182-day bills and N500bn for the 364-day bill. Ultimately, the CBN allotted N638.19bn for the 364-day bill, exceeding its initial offer by N138.19bn, although only 17.6% of total bids were accepted.

The 91-day bill attracted N103.32bn in subscriptions, with an allotment of N89.10bn at a stop rate of 16.30%. The 182-day bill saw only N52.93bn in subscriptions, with N35.59bn allotted at a stop rate of 16.50%.

Analyst Jimbe Asalor noted that the concentration of bids in the one-year instrument reflects a preference for locking in attractive yields over longer periods.