The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), acting for the Debt Management Office (DMO), has opened subscription for N700 billion ($437.5 million) in Nigerian Treasury Bills to manage liquidity and cover budget deficits.
According to an official auction circular released by the central bank, the primary market offer for its first August auction spans 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, with allotments scheduled for Wednesday.
The offer is heavily weighted toward the one-year paper, with the 364-day tenor accounting for N500 billion, while the 91-day and 182-day tenors account for N100 billion each.
Institutional investors, including pension funds and commercial banks, are expected to aggressively oversubscribe the 364-day instrument as market participants seek to lock in elevated yields amid lingering macroeconomic pressures.
The N700 billion issuance comes as the CBN continues deploying open market operations and high-yield debt sales to mop up excess banking system liquidity and stabilize foreign exchange reserves.
Foreign portfolio investors have maintained keen interest in long-dated Nigerian government paper, bolstered by recent monetary policy tightening aimed at reining in sticky headline inflation.
The auction follows previous high-demand primary sales where long-end stop rates surged, reflecting investor demand for inflation-hedged returns and the government’s accelerating domestic borrowing drive.
Results from the settlement auction will set key benchmark yields across secondary money markets and shape short-term interest rate projections for the remainder of the quarter.
