CBN to auction N750bn treasury bills

The Central Bank of Nigeria is set to auction Nigerian Treasury Bills worth N750 billion on Wednesday, offering investors opportunities across three standard maturities—91-day, 182-day, and 364-day instruments. According to market details, the apex bank will raise N100 billion from 91-day bills, N150 billion from 182-day bills, and a significant N500 billion from 364-day bills, […]

The Central Bank of Nigeria is set to auction Nigerian Treasury Bills worth N750 billion on Wednesday, offering investors opportunities across three standard maturities—91-day, 182-day, and 364-day instruments.
According to market details, the apex bank will raise N100 billion from 91-day bills, N150 billion from 182-day bills, and a significant N500 billion from 364-day bills, reflecting strong investor appetite for longer-duration securities.
The heavy allocation to the 364-day tenor underscores growing investor preference for longer-term instruments amid declining yields on shorter maturities.
Liquidity in the financial system remained elevated at about N3.84 trillion last week, driven largely by deposits at the Standing Deposit Facility by banks.
In addition, the market is anticipating inflows of approximately N1.6 trillion from maturing treasury bills, Open Market Operations (OMO) instruments, and bond coupon payments—factors expected to further boost liquidity levels.
Despite strong demand, yields on treasury bills have been trending downward. The CBN has continued to cut spot rates, particularly on mid- and long-tenor instruments, as it seeks to balance borrowing costs with market conditions.

At the last auction, rates on the 182-day and 364-day bills were reduced, while the 91-day tenor remained unchanged. The 182-day bill rate declined to 16.19 per cent from 16.42 per cent, marking the second consecutive drop. Similarly, the 364-day bill rate fell to 16.199 per cent from 16.43 per cent.

The auction is taking place against the backdrop of evolving macroeconomic conditions. While interest rates remain relatively high, inflationary pressures have begun to ease, altering real return dynamics for investors.

With the monetary policy rate at 26.5 per cent and inflation at 15.38 per cent, the real interest rate stands at approximately 11.12 per cent. However, continued rate compression in the fixed-income market is gradually narrowing effective returns.