In order to further help government finance its budget deficit, curb money supply growth and to help lenders manage their liquidity, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced Wednesday its plans to issue yet another N229.14 billion ($728.59 million) in treasury bills at an auction on August 2, 2017.
The CBN said it would issue N29.14 billion in three-month bills, N80 billion in six-month paper and N120 billion in one-year bills.
The planned bill sales is coming after government disbursed budget allocation to its agencies, which may be prompting the central bank to mop up excess liquidity.
Specifically, government released N652.2 billion late Tuesday to its three tiers of government – federal, states and local – as their June budget disbursement amid widening budget deficits.
Available data indicate government deficit widened to N2.51 billion at half-year 2017 as against budget target of N2.23 trillion.
Nigeria’s central bank, which issues treasury bills twice a month, sold N205 billion of 91-day, 182-day and 364-day treasury bills on July 19 with stop rates at 13.425% and 18.549% respectively.
