Nigeria’s treasury bills yield 23.45% increase, highest ever in a single auction

…Set to relief pressure on naira in FX market

…As EFCC moves to restrain business owners from charging in dollars

Nigeria’s treasury bills have yielded a 23.45 percent increase marking the highest profit the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ever recorded from a single auction.

The one-year treasury bill was oversubscribed to the tune of N1.87 trillion, three times more than the N600 billion that was offered.

Treasury bills or T-Bills are short-term debt securities issued by the government to make up for budget deficit and fund projects

In Nigeria, T-Bills are issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on behalf of the federal government. The investment is backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), hence, it is considered one of the safest forms of investment.

The T-bill recorded a stop rate of 19 percent versus 11.54 percent at the last auction while the 182-day and 91-day bills had stop rates of 18 and 17.24 percent versus 7.15 percent and 5 percent respectively at the previous auction.

The one year bill sold at a stop rate of 19 percent while the N200 billion each for the 182-day and 91-day bills had stop rates of 18 and 17.24 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, investors staked only N39.9 billion for the 91-day bill compared to the N200 billion offered by the apex bank. The range of interest rates bid was between 7 percent and 17.2 percent. The central banks sold the N39.9 billion staked.

For the 182 days T-bills, investors undersubscribed the offer, staking just N76.8 billion out of the N200 billion offered by the central bank. The central bank allotted only N51.3 billion. The range of bids was 4 percent to 19.9 percent. The stop rate was 18 percent for treasury bills.

In the last auction, the stop rate for the one-year bill was 11.54 percent while the 91-day bills and 182-day bills closed at 5 percent and 7.15 percent respectively.

Financial analysts who spoke with NewsDirect finance correspondents predict that the foreign exchange to be earned from this will help relieve the pressure on the naira in the FX market.

The naira however gained on Wednesday, closing at N1418/$ compared to N1433.89/$ the previous day, according to data by FMDQ Securities Exchange Ltd.

Recall that the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso had last year at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Bankers’ Dinner stated how the fixed monetary tools of the Bank have begun to yield results, Cardoso said regular open market operations (OMO), treasury bills, standing deposit facility (SDF) and cash reserve requirement (CRR) have been used to mop up excess liquidity from the banking system.

Cardoso said he is confident that with continued tightening measures for the next two quarters, the apex bank will be able to effectively manage inflation.

The yield on the treasury bills coupled with reforms in the foreign exchange market are indicating that the policies and measures being deployed by the CBN to tame inflation may be working.

The current yield when matched with the latest inflation rate of 28.92 percent brings the negative real return on the one-year T-bill to 5.52 percent as against the previous negative return of 16.68 percent.

If put side by side with the CBN’s governor inflation target of 21 percent for 2024, it gives a positive real return of 2.45 percent.

…As EFCC moves to restrain business owners from charging in dollars

Meanwhile, in a bid to curb the pressure of the dollar on the Naira, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has initiated a move to clampdown on business owners charging their services in dollar denomination.

The anti-graft agency on Wednesday revealed that it has set up a Special Task Force in all its Zonal Commands for the enforcement of extant laws against currency mutilation and dollarisation of the economy.

The Task Force, inaugurated by the Executive Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, was raised to protect the economy from abuses, leakages and distortions exposing it to instability and disruption.

Already, the Commission has made some arrests of perpetrators of issuance of invoices in dollars and mutilation of the Naira in Lagos and Port  Harcourt.

Also, proprietors of private Universities and other institutions of higher learning charging fees in dollars have been invited by the Commission.

The Commission is committed to the enforcement of all laws in place for the reflation and stimulation of the economy.