Treasury Bills Yield Climbs as Nigeria’s Inflation Slows
The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills surged to 17.71% in the secondary market amid selloffs following a slowdown in the nation’s headline inflation rate in February 2026.
The fixed income market turned bearish, recording a soft portfolio adjustment, while investors began to estimate the spot rate repricing outlook based on disinflation figures.
The Apex Bank has recently reduced its spot rate on 364-day bills, the most attractive tenor that has been recording significant bids, to 16.72%. Meanwhile, OMO bills with 99-day maturity were sold at 19.35%.
While the differential rates widen, treasury bills continue to witness significant subscription across standard tenors. The market anticipates that the monetary authority will scale back spot rate pricing at the next auction, though investors have witnessed surprises in recent auctions.
The T-bill secondary market opened the week bearish, with the average yield rising by 5 bp to 17.71%, largely lifted by selling pressure in select papers, including Dec-26s (+107bps and +29bps), Jan-27 (+42bps), and Mar-27 (+6bps).
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 15.06 per cent in February. The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for February 2026, released in Abuja on Monday.
According to the report, the February headline inflation decreased by 0.04 per cent compared to the 15.10 per cent recorded in January. It said that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in February was 11.21 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025 at 26.27 per cent.
