By Dipo Olowookere
Yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold some treasury bills to investors at the primary market auction (PMA) a day after the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was jerked up to 17.50 per cent from 16.50 per cent despite inflation figures in December 2022 moderating to 21.34 per cent.
According to details of the PMA, the apex bank auctioned N220.5 billion worth of treasury bills across three maturities, with N1.7 billion for the 91-day instrument, N1.3 billion for the 182-day instrument, and N217.5 billion for the 364-day instrument.
However, the value of subscriptions significantly rose as investors offered N1.0 trillion on the debt instruments as they made efforts to tie down their funds on risk-free asset class, with the stop rate going as low as 0.29 per cent.
A breakdown showed that N860.4 billion was staked on the 12-month bill during the session, with N217.5 billion allotted at the close of the exercise and the stop rate reduced by 2.52 per cent to 4.78 per cent from the 7.30 per cent of the preceding PMA.
Business Post reports that the bank offered for sale N1.3 billion worth of the 182-day tenor yesterday. However, the central bank received bids valued at N89.6 billion, and N1.3 billion sold to successful subscribers, with the rate slashed by 2.53 per cent to 1.80 per cent from 4.33 per cent.
Lastly, the CBN auctioned N1.7 billion worth of the 91-day bill during the session, with N94.3 billion worth of subscriptions received from subscribers and N1.7 billion allotted. Also, the stop rate for this bill was brought down by 1.71 per cent to 0.29 per cent to 2.00 per cent.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka