Central Bank Sells N3.3tn in Nigerian OMO Bills to Investors
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an open market operation, allocating about N3.31 trillion in OMO bills to retail and corporate investors who participated on Tuesday.
The Apex Bank OMO bills auction targeted excess liquidity in the financial system, which was reported to be above N5 trillion at the start of the trading session on Tuesday.
At the open market operation, Apex Bank offered N2 trillion in OMO bills with 147- and 182-day maturities. Reflecting sustained demand for the naira asset, the auction was oversubscribed, attracting about N3.5 trillion in total subscriptions.
Market analysts reported that the strongest demand was recorded on the longest-dated bill.
The breakdown showed that OMO bills with a 147-day tenor recorded a sale of N637.2 billion, while the 182-day bill was allotted N2.7 trillion.
Further details revealed that stop rates settled at 17.22% and 16.92% for the 147-day and 182-day OMO bills, respectively.
Financial system liquidity edged up 40.52% day-on-day to about N7.09 trillion from N5.05 trillion, helped by N2.17 trillion in OMO maturities.
Banks kept strong placements at the CBN’s Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) window, at N4.70 trillion. The CBN’s OMO auction sold about N3.31 trillion, which pushed the average funding cost up by 32 bps to 20.59%. Risk-off: Benchmark Yield on Nigerian Bonds Rises to 15.92%
