Central Bank Floats N600bn OMO Bills, Raises N1.9trn
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an open market operation in which it offered N600 billion in OMO bills to investors across three tenors.
Details from the OMO auction floated on Friday showed that offers made to investors included short-term instruments that will expire in 11, 39, and 102 days.
Total subscription was about N2.5 trillion. The reported strong demand was influenced by heightened liquidity in the financial system. The money market recorded an inflow of ₦1.97 trillion from OMO maturities, pushing system liquidity sharply higher to ₦5.92 trillion.
The OMO auction results indicated exceptionally strong investor demand for liquidity, particularly for the 102-day tenor, which recorded subscriptions of ₦1.73 trillion against an offer size of ₦200 billion.
The Central Bank eventually sold ₦1.72 trillion at a stop rate of 20.37%, highlighting aggressive market participation despite slightly lower yields than those of shorter-tenor instruments.
The 11-day paper also attracted healthy demand with subscriptions of ₦225 billion and total sales of ₦220 billion at a stop rate of 21.80%, reflecting investors’ preference for short-duration instruments amid prevailing uncertainty around rates and liquidity conditions.
Meanwhile, the 39-day tenor, despite receiving ₦588 billion in subscriptions, recorded “No Sale,” suggesting the CBN rejected bids likely due to pricing considerations and an attempt to avoid validating lower yield expectations.
Total demand printed at about N2.5 trillion, with the CBN allotting about N1.9 trillion across the 11-day and 102-day bills, at stop rates of 21.80% and 20.37%, respectively, with no sale recorded for the 39-day paper. Fitch Affirms Guaranty Trust Holding Company at ‘B’; Outlook Stable
