CBN sells ₦2.63tn OMO bills, ₦629bn above offer

ABUJA, Nigeria — The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold ₦2.628 trillion in Open Market Operations (OMO) bills at its October 22, 2026 auction, ₦628.52 billion, or 31.43%, above its initial ₦2 trillion offer. Stop rates rose across both tenors.

Investors submitted bids worth ₦2.728 trillion, or 1.36 times the amount offered. The CBN accepted about 96.35% of bids by value, leaving ₦99.54 billion unallotted.

The 180-day bill drew most demand

The 180-day bill attracted the largest share of demand and allotments. The CBN allotted ₦1.773 trillion to it, against the ₦1 trillion offered. Subscriptions reached ₦1.853 trillion, or 1.85 times the offer. The bill cleared at a stop rate of 17.14% and matures on April 20, 2027.

The 138-day bill was undersubscribed. Subscriptions reached ₦875.24 billion, below its ₦1 trillion offer, and the CBN allotted ₦855.24 billion. It cleared at a higher stop rate of 17.63% and matures on March 9, 2027. The shorter bill’s rate was 49 basis points above the longer bill’s, even though it drew weaker demand.

Stop rates move up

The October 22 auction recorded higher stop rates than the October 6 sale, when the CBN allotted about ₦3.31 trillion with stop rates of 17.22% for the 147-day bill and 16.92% for the 182-day bill. The 138-day rate was 41 basis points above the October 6 rate for the 147-day bill, and the 180-day rate was about 20 basis points above the October 6 rate for the 182-day bill.

The September 29 auction had stop rates of 17.24% and 16.94% for the comparable shorter and longer bills. The rates had fallen after the CBN’s 350-basis-point cut in September, but the October 22 results suggest that decline has paused.

At the October 14 Treasury bill auction, the 364-day stop rate rose five basis points to 15.90%, its first increase since August.

Liquidity context

The Financial Markets Dealers Association projected ₦2.067 trillion in OMO maturities for the week beginning October 19. The ₦2.628 trillion allotted exceeded that figure by about ₦562 billion in face value. Banks’ placements at the Standing Deposit Facility stayed above ₦6 trillion between October 14 and October 16.

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