The Central Bank of Nigeria will return to the domestic debt market in September with a N700bn treasury bills offering, as it continues its efforts to manage liquidity in the financial system.
The auction, being conducted on behalf of the Debt Management Office, will feature three Nigerian T-bills maturities, including 91-day, 182-day and 364-day instruments.
The CBN has allocated N100bn each to the 91-day and 182-day bills, while the 364-day tenor will account for the bulk of the offer at N500bn.
Money market dealers are required to submit their bids through the CBN S4 Web Interface on 2 September, 2026.
The auction result is expected to be released the same day, with allotment scheduled for 3 September. Successful investors are required to make payment by 11:00 a.m. on the allotment date.
The latest auction further underscores the CBN’s preference for longer-dated T-bills, with the 364-day instrument accounting for more than 70 per cent of the N700bn offer.
The dominance of the one-year bill comes as investors continue to closely monitor yields in the fixed-income market amid expectations of a possible shift in monetary policy.
At the 26 August NTB auction, the CBN reduced the stop rate on the one-year bill by 44 basis points to 17.15 per cent after raising the rate to 17.59 per cent at the 12 August auction.
The September auction could therefore provide fresh clues on the direction of short-term interest rates ahead of the next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.
What is visible is that the CBN’s heavy borrowing has continued. The September offer forms part of the N5.8tn Treasury-bills issuance programme for the third quarter of 2026.
The 2 September auction is one of the final three NTB auctions in the Q3 2026 programme, through which the DMO and CBN plan to issue a total of N5.8tn in T-bills between July and September.
Under the programme, the DMO and CBN plan to issue N900bn through 91-day bills, N900bn through 182-day bills and N4tn through 364-day instruments.
T-bills worth N2.64tn are expected to mature during the quarter, leaving an estimated net borrowing requirement of about N3.16tn.
The CBN has also been using a combination of T-bills and Open Market Operations (OMO) to mop up excess liquidity from the banking system.
At the 12 August NTB auction, investors submitted bids worth about N4.4tn against N700bn offered, with the 364-day instrument alone attracting N4.19tn in subscriptions.
The strong demand reflects continued investor appetite for high-yielding government securities, particularly the longer-tenor bills.
Analysts believe the September auction will test the CBN’s rate direction. Market attention is now shifting to whether the CBN will maintain its aggressive liquidity-management approach or allow T-bill yields to decline further.
Cumulative allotments at the 12 August and 26 August auctions reached about N2.22tn, compared with a combined advertised offer of N1.4tn.
The level of allotment has raised expectations that the apex bank could continue using government securities to absorb liquidity even as market participants anticipate a possible easing of monetary conditions.
