CBN Allots N3.85tn as Investors Rush Longer OMO Bills

By Samuel Akpan

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allotted N3.854 trillion at its November 10 OMO auction, more than doubling the N1.50 trillion on offer as investors piled into longer-dated securities.

Total bids hit N4.069 trillion, a 2.71 times bid-to-cover ratio, with the bank accepting roughly 94.71 percent of subscriptions and rejecting only N215.13 billion.

It offered N500 billion each on 154-day, 252-day and 329-day bills, yet allotted about 2.57 times that amount, continuing the pattern of strong longer-tenor demand while stop rates fell on the longer maturities.

The 329-day bill drew N2.82 trillion in bids against N500 billion and took N2.79 trillion at 15.99 percent, maturing October 5, 2027 and accounting for 72.4 percent of all allotments.

The 252-day instrument, maturing July 20, 2027, received N791.50 billion in bids and was allotted N783.50 billion at 16.68 percent, with just N8 billion rejected, while the 154-day bill saw N457.89 billion in bids but only N280.76 billion allotted at 17.44 percent, or about 61 percent of its subscriptions.

Investors clearly favoured locking funds into longer securities at lower rates rather than shorter bills at higher ones, marking a notable shift as the CBN accepted nearly all subscriptions on the 252-day and 329-day instruments.