Investors significantly increased their appetite for longer-dated Nigerian Treasury bills at Wednesday’s auction, committing N1.08 trillion to the 364-day instrument amid rising government borrowing plans and higher yields in the domestic debt market.
Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that subscriptions for the 364-day Treasury bill reached N1.079 trillion at the November 11, 2026 auction, representing 79.85 percent above the N600 billion offered.
The strong demand prompted the DMO to allot N672.91 billion, exceeding the initial offer by N72.91 billion, at a stop rate of 15.89 percent.
The 364-day instrument accounted for more than 96 percent of total subscriptions of N1.12 trillion recorded across the three tenors, highlighting investors’ preference for locking funds into longer-term government securities at the prevailing interest rates.
In contrast, the 91-day Treasury bill attracted subscriptions of N19.18 billion against N100 billion offered, while the 182-day instrument recorded N23.02 billion in subscriptions against a similar N100 billion offer.
The DMO allotted N18.12 billion and N22.28 billion to the 91-day and 182-day instruments, respectively, reflecting relatively subdued demand for the shorter maturities.
Stop rates across the three instruments stood at 15.40 percent for the 91-day bill, 15.79 percent for the 182-day bill and 15.89 percent for the 364-day instrument. The difference between the shortest and longest maturities was 49 basis points, with the one-year bill offering the highest stop rate at the auction.
The strong demand for government securities comes as the Federal Government plans to raise N4 trillion through two bond auctions in November and December, amid rising yields in the domestic bond market and elevated banking system liquidity despite aggressive liquidity mop-up operations by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the revised bond issuance calendar released by the DMO, the government will offer N2 trillion at each of the November 16 and December 14 auctions, bringing planned bond issuance for the remaining two months of 2026 to N4 trillion.
The November and December offers will comprise N700 billion each in the 21.00 percent FGN March 2028 bond, N250 billion each in the 19.30 percent FGN April 2029 instrument, N750 billion each in the 17.945 percent FGN August 2030 bond and N300 billion each in the 19.89 percent FGN May 2033 instrument.
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The August 2030 bond accounts for the largest share of the planned issuance at N1.5 trillion, representing 37.5 percent of the total, followed by the March 2028 instrument at N1.4 trillion, or 35 percent. The April 2029 and May 2033 bonds account for N500 billion and N600 billion, respectively.
The planned borrowing comes against the backdrop of rising yields in the government bond market, with the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) reporting a 20-basis-point increase in average FGN bond yields to 16.37 percent in the week ended November 6, from 16.17 percent previously.
The seven-year bond recorded the largest increase, with its yield rising by 104 basis points to 17.77 percent, while the 15-year bond yield increased by 52 basis points to 15.41 percent, reflecting higher returns demanded by investors on selected longer-term government securities.
Meanwhile, banking system liquidity increased by 15.36 percent week-on-week to N8.505 trillion from N7.373 trillion, despite intensified efforts by the CBN to withdraw excess funds from the financial system.
The CBN raised N5.667 trillion through Open Market Operations (OMO) auctions conducted on November 3 and 6, representing 91.7 percent of the N6.182 trillion raised through OMO operations throughout October.
Overall, the DMO allotted N713.30 billion across the three Treasury bill maturities at Wednesday’s auction against a combined offer of N800 billion, while total subscriptions reached N1.12 trillion.
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Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks.
She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings.
Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.
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