Investors stake N3.35tn on T-bills at 16.84% yield

Investors sought nearly five times the amount of Nigerian treasury bills offered at Wednesday’s auction, submitting N3.35 trillion in bids for securities initially valued at N700 billion. The Central Bank of Nigeria ultimately allotted N865.71 billion.

The CBN lowered the stop rate on the one-year, or 364-day, bill to 16.84%, down from 17.15% at the previous auction on Aug. 26. The rate has fallen by 75 basis points over the past two auctions, reversing the increase recorded between June and August.

Demand focused heavily on the longest maturity. Investors submitted N3.238 trillion for N500 billion of 364-day bills, and the CBN allotted N762.17 billion, exceeding the advertised amount by N262.17 billion. The bill’s rate now sits only slightly above the 16.74% prevailing secondary-market yield.

Shorter maturities attracted considerably less interest. The 91-day bill received N76.82 billion in bids against N100 billion on offer, with N76.28 billion allotted at an unchanged 16.30% stop rate. The 182-day bill drew N33.51 billion against N100 billion offered, while N27.27 billion was allotted at 16.50%.

The bills will mature on Dec. 3, 2026, March 4, 2027 and Sept. 2, 2027, respectively. The auction continues a recent pattern in which investors favour one-year government securities while demand for shorter tenors remains subdued. The movement in yields has also strengthened expectations of easier monetary conditions ahead of the CBN’s September Monetary Policy Committee meeting.