Rates Remain High as T-Bills Market Bearish on Tight Liquidity

By Dipo Olowookere

The money market interest rates remained high on Monday though it slightly went down from what was recorded in the last trading session.

This was despite outflow via Open Market Operations (OMO) sales worth N47.3 billion by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday.

At the close of business yesterday, the overnight rate closed at 18.92 percent from 19 percent, while the open buy back (OBB) dropped to 18 percent from 18.33 percent recorded last Friday.

Business Post reports that the treasury bills market was marginally bearish as a result of sustained strain in financial system liquidity.

It was observed that investors were laidback as average yield inched higher by 9 basis points to 13.69 percent.

Expectedly, market players undersubscribed the OMO auction by the CBN with only N47.3 billion realised from the exercise by the apex bank from the N150 billion offered.

A breakdown of the auction showed that the 80-day bill had N530 million total subscription from the N50 billion on offer, while the 251-day bill had N46.77 billion subscription from the N100 billion offered by the chief lender.

At the close of the exercise, the central bank sold N530 million worth of the 80-day bill at 12.60 percent and N46.77 billion worth of the 251-day bill at 14.40 percent.

With another OMO sales expected today by the CBN, the market is projected to remain bearish.