Sell Pressure Pushes Treasury Bills Yields to 5.52%

By Dipo Olowookere

Average yields of treasury bills slightly increased on Tuesday on the back of selling pressure witnessed at the secondary market during the session.

Business Post reports that the yields rose across the four maturities tracked in the day, closing 0.66 percent higher to 5.52 percent from 4.86 percent it finished at the previous session.

Recording the highest rise was the one-month tenor, which grew by 1.57 percent to 5.71 percent to 4.14 percent and was followed by the three-month bill, which increased by 0.79 percent to 5.02 percent from 4.23 percent.

The six-month instrument appreciated by 0.23 percent to 5.30 percent from 5.08 percent, while the one-year tenor increased by 0.04 percent to 6.03 percent from 5.99 percent.

This week, the N277.80 billion worth of OMO maturities are expected to boost financial system liquidity, with an OMO auction anticipated in the week from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put excess cash in circulation in check. This is expected to happen on Friday, December 27, after the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays.

Meanwhile, the average money market rates increased significantly on Tuesday. At the close of transactions, the rates rose by 9.71 percent to 12.11 percent. This came on the back of the 9.57 percent growth printed by the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate and the 9.71 percent increase posted by the Overnight (OVN) rate.

When market finally closed, the OBB rate rose to 11.57 percent from 2.00 percent, while the OVN rate jumped to 12.64 percent from 2.93 percent.