CBN offers ₦2 trillion in OMO bills as banks park over ₦6 trillion at deposit window

ABUJA, Nigeria — The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is offering ₦2 trillion in Open Market Operations (OMO) bills on Thursday, October 22, 2026, as banking system liquidity remains high after large securities repayments.

According to the CBN’s auction notice, the offer comprises ₦1 trillion each of 138-day and 180-day bills. Bidding runs from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. The shorter bill matures on March 9, 2027, and the longer bill on April 20, 2027.

Liquidity at the deposit window

Banks’ net placements at the CBN’s Standing Deposit Facility exceeded ₦6 trillion earlier in October. The Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) reported that banking system liquidity rose 69.39% to ₦6.283 trillion in the week ended October 16, from ₦3.709 trillion the week before.

The increase followed an OMO repayment of about ₦2.41 trillion on October 13. No fresh OMO sales were recorded in that review week.

The auction in context

The offer is close to the ₦2.067 trillion in OMO maturities that FMDA projected for the week beginning October 19. The gap between the two is about ₦67 billion. The notice does not say whether the CBN plans to replace maturing bills one-for-one.

At the October 6 auction, the CBN allotted about ₦3.31 trillion against an initial offer of ₦2 trillion, with subscriptions of ₦3.51 trillion. The 182-day bill accounted for about 80.7% of that allotment. Stop rates were 17.22% for the 147-day bill and 16.92% for the 182-day bill, both below the September 29 auction.

The CBN sold about ₦17.51 trillion in OMO bills in September against ₦10.89 trillion in maturities, a net withdrawal of about ₦6.62 trillion.

What to watch

The notice does not give stop rates, subscriptions or allotments. Those figures will show how much liquidity is actually absorbed. A larger allotment would drain more funds from the banking system, while a smaller one would leave more in place. Investors will also be watching whether accepted yields continue their recent downward trend.

OMO bills are available to eligible market participants under CBN rules and are not offered directly to ordinary retail investors.