The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised a total of ₦4.5 trillion through Open Market Operations (OMO) and Treasury bills last week, driven by robust investor demand for Naira-denominated assets at primary market auctions (PMAs).
In the OMO primary market, the CBN initially offered ₦600.0 billion in bills.
However, total subscriptions skyrocketed to ₦3.3 trillion, representing a more than fivefold oversubscription, according to a market note released by CSL Stockbrokers on Monday.
Final allotments for the OMO auction stood at approximately ₦3.0 trillion. A breakdown of the allocation shows that ₦169.0 billion was allotted for the 7-day tenor at a stop rate of 21.5%, ₦465.0 billion for the 35-day tenor at 21.4%, and ₦2.4 trillion for the 133-day tenor at 20.0%.
Concurrently, the Debt Management Office (DMO), acting on behalf of the apex bank, offered ₦1.0 trillion in Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs). Market analysts reported strong investor appetite, with total subscriptions hitting ₦2.2 trillion more than double the initial offer size.
The DMO ultimately allotted ₦1.5 trillion across three tenors.
The 91-day paper received ₦131.2 billion at a stop rate of 16.1%, the 182-day tenor accounted for ₦83.0 billion at 16.2%, and the 364-day long-tenor instrument dominated the auction with ₦1.2 trillion allotted at 16.4%.
Looking ahead, financial system liquidity is expected to receive a boost this week from the maturity of ₦1.25 trillion in OMO bills and ₦144.4 billion in Treasury bills.
This projected influx follows a contraction in financial system liquidity last week, which dropped to approximately ₦4.8 trillion from ₦6.0 trillion the previous week.
Analysts attributed this decline primarily to a reduction in commercial banks’ net placements at the CBN’s Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), alongside the net sales of the OMO and Treasury instruments.
Meanwhile, the secondary market maintained a broadly bullish outlook, reflecting sustained investor preference for short-term fixed-income assets. As a result, the average benchmark yield on Nigerian Treasury bills fell marginally by 8 basis points to settle at 17.8%.
CSL Stockbrokers projected that market sentiment will remain positive in the near term. This resilience is expected to be sustained by a strong local appetite for short-dated instruments, especially as global risk-off sentiments and capital flight uncertainties persist.