Nigerian treasury bills oversubscribed by N132bn

The Nigerian treasury bills auctioned for the month of May was oversubscribed by N132bn.

The Debt Management Office disclosed this on its website on Wednesday, adding that a total of N33bn was offered while it recorded a total subscription of N165.56bn.

The treasury bills were auctioned across 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors.

A total of N4.38bn was offered on the 91-day; N12.92bn for the 182-day tenor, and N16.5bn was offered on the 364-day tenor.

The 91-day and 182-day tenors got total subscriptions of N22.33bn and N41.19bn respectively, while the 364-day tenor received N102.03bn subscription.

Total allotments of N19.78bn, N40.09bn and N82.88bn were made on the 91-day, 182-day and 384-day tenors respectively.

The bid rates in percentage were 1.3900-6.6398, 1.9400-7.4800, and 2.8000-12.8000, while the stop rates in percentage were given as 2.5000, 2.8500 and 3.8400 for the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors respectively.

According to the DMO, allotment date would be May 14, 2020.

Treasury bills are short-term sovereign debt securities maturing in one year or less.

They are sold at a discount and redeemed at par.

The bills are by nature the most liquid money market securities and are backed by the guarantee of the federal government of a nation.

The federal government of Nigeria, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, issues the treasury bills to provide short-term funding for government budget deficit.

The treasury bills are usually issued through a competitive bidding process, quoted and traded on FMDQ’s platform.