The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has offered N108.1 billion Treasury Bills (T-Bills) across three tenors of 91 days, 180 days and 360 days.
In an auction report released at the weekend, Afrinvest West Africa analysts said the CBN offered N108.1 billion worth of instruments across three tenors – 91-day (N2.8 billion), 182-day (N7.9 billion), and 364-day (N97.3 billion).
Demand at the auction was strong as the bid-to-cover ratio stood at 3.7 times. The 364- day instrument received the most buying interest with a bid-to-cover ratio of 6.3 times, while the ra o of the 182-day and 91-day bills were 3.0 times and 1.8 times respectively.
Compared to the previous auction, the stop rate on the 91, 182 and 364-day instruments rose 2.3 percentage points (ppts), 3.9 ppts, and 3.8 ppts respectively to six per cent, nine per cent, and 13 per cent.
In the secondary market, the bearish segment lingered as average yield rose 94bps week-on-week (w/w) to eight per cent.
This negative outing was influenced by sell-o s on the short (91-day) and mid-dated (182-day) instruments as yield advanced 318bps and 22bps w/w respectively.
Nonetheless, the long-dated (364-day) instrument posted gain as yield fell 58bps w/w. In the coming week, we expect the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) inflow to boost liquidity and drive trade.
The apex bank had also conducted three rounds of T-bills auctions worth N532.5 billion in September.
The breakdown showed offer of N203.2 billion on only the 364-day instrument in the first, N152.2 billion, and N177.1 billion across the three tenors in the second and third respectively.
Investors’ appetite registered strong in the month with a bid-to-cover ratio of 4.2 times, albeit weaker than August’s demand of 5.4 times.
Notably, the 182-day instrument recorded the strongest buy interest with bid-to-cover ratio of 4.3 times with sales worth N2.5 billion. Trailing, the bid-to-cover ratio of the 364 and 91-day instruments stood at 4.3 times and 2.9 times times respectively, following sales worth N527.1 billion and N2.8 billion.
