Central Bank Raises 364-Day Treasury Bill Stop Rate to 6.5%

By Dipo Olowookere

The upward movement of the one-year treasury bill stop rate continued at the primary market auction on Wednesday when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold the investment tool to investors.

The central bank was at the market yesterday with N88.90 billion worth of T-bills. It was the first sale in the month of March 2021.

Business Post reports that N4.4 billion worth of 91-day bill, N14.0 billion worth of 182-day bill and N70.5 billion worth of 364-day bill were auctioned during the session.

However, the bills were oversubscribed on the back of the rising yields in the fixed income market, which is making the financial assets more attractive to investors.

Details of the exercise indicated that N18.4 billion was staked on the short-dated instrument, N53.0 billion was staked on the mid-dated instrument and N125.4 billion was staked on the long-dated instrument, amounting to N196.8 billion.

But the central bank allotted N4.7 billion for the 91-day maturity, N23.5 billion was allotted for the 182-day maturity and N80.6 billion was allotted for the 364-day maturity, totalling N108.8 billion.

According to details of the sales, the apex bank cleared the three-month tenor at a stop rate of 2.00 per cent, the same rate at the previous exercise.

Also, the stop rate of the six-month tenor was left unchanged at 3.50 per cent, while the 12-month tenor cleared at 6.50 per cent, higher than 5.50 per cent of the previous PMA.