CBN to Open N800bn Treasury Bills for Subscription
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to open N550 billion worth of Nigerian Treasury bills for subscription this week, according to its revised calendar. The monetary authority will offer investors opportunities to subscribe to Treasury bills at the primary market auction on Wednesday. The amount in offer is expected to be split across standard maturities of 91 days, 182 days, and 364 days.
In separate discussions with MarketForces Africa, analysts predicted the offer will be significantly oversubscribed, reflecting the current market mood.
With interest rate expectations pointing downward, analysts anticipate strong investor participation and a marginal decline in market yields. At the primary market auction conducted last week, the CBN offered N550 billion worth of instruments across standard maturities.
Traders said in their separate reports that total demand was strong, particularly for the 364-day bill, which garnered ₦1.19 trillion in bids; nearly three times the offer size.
The authority successfully allotted ₦678.76 billion, exceeding the total offer size by 23%, with the 364-day paper accounting for 90% of total allotments. Again, investors showed preference for long dated bills as part of efforts to optmise portfolio return on naira assets.
Details from the auction showed that stop rate for the 91-day paper remained unchanged at 17.00%. On the back of strong bids, spot rate on 182-day Treasury bills rose by 4 basis points to 17.79% last week. Also, rate for 364-day bills advanced 57bps to 18.39%. #CBN to Open N800bn Treasury Bills for Subscription#
