Oman’s central bank raises OMR42 million through treasury bills

The Central Bank of Oman raised OMR42 million through treasury bills on Monday, offering licensed commercial banks a short-term outlet for surplus funds.

The allotment included OMR40 million in bills maturing after 91 days. The average accepted price was OMR99.050 for every OMR100, matching the minimum accepted price. The average discount rate reached 3.81044%, while the average yield stood at 3.84699%.

A further OMR2 million in treasury bills carries a 182-day maturity. These bills also recorded an average and minimum accepted price of OMR98.065 per OMR100. The average discount rate was 3.88063%, and the average yield reached 3.95720%.

Treasury bills are short-term, highly secured instruments issued by Oman’s Ministry of Finance. The Central Bank of Oman acts as issue manager and provides liquidity through discounting and repurchase facilities. The repo interest rate with the central bank stands at 4.25%, while the discount rate under its treasury-bill discounting facility is 4.75%.

The instrument also helps develop Oman’s local money market by creating a benchmark yield curve for short-term interest rates. The government may use treasury bills when necessary to finance recurrent expenditure.