364-Day Nigerian Treasury Bills Stop Rate Moderates to 15.85%

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The stop rate of the 364-day Nigerian Treasury bills was slashed by 0.04 per cent on Wednesday to 15.85 per cent from 15.89 per cent.

Yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on behalf of the Debt Management Office (DMO), sold treasury bills to investors through the primary market.

The government was in the market at midweek to auction N900 billion worth of treasury bills to investors across three tenors of three months, six months and 12 months, but subscriptions valued at N1.766 trillion were received, while N968.47 billion was allotted to successful bidders.

From the N100 billion worth of the 91-day bill, bids worth N39.42 billion were received and N38.55 billion allotted at 15.50 per cent, the same as the previous exercise.

As for the 182-day bill, subscribers offered N46.87 billion, but N44.92 billion was allotted at 15.80 per cent, unchanged from the previous auction.

But the stop rate changed for the 364-day bill after recording an oversubscription, as it attracted N1.68 trillion, with N885.00 billion allotted.

The strong appetite for the long-dated bill showed the confidence investors have in government securities, especially as the local equities market is experiencing sell-offs.