By Dipo Olowookere
Yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the sum of N117.17 billion through the sale of treasury bills at the primary market.
Though the amount offered by the apex bank was fully subscribed, it was observed that traders snubbed the short-tenor bills for the 364-day instrument.
The CBN had offered to sell N26.14 billion worth of the 91-day bill, but it received N7.89 billion worth of subscriptions for it.
Also, out of the N11 billion worth of the 182-day bill put on auction, only a total of N6.21 billion worth of subscriptions were received from traders.
However, the central bank received a total subscription of N119.69 billion for the 364-day bill after it had put the instrument worth N80.03 billion for sale.
At the close of the exercise, the CBN sold N7.89 billion worth of the 91-day bill at 12.95 percent, N6.21 billion worth of the 182-day bill at 15 percent, and N103.07 worth of the 364-day bill at 15.57 percent.
Meanwhile, the money market rates dropped slightly at the close of business on Wednesday.
The overnight rate went down to 11.92 percent from 13.58 percent, while the open buy back (OBB) dropped to 11.17 percent from 12.67 percent the previous day.
