The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), acting for the Debt Management Office (DMO), is offering N450 billion in Nigerian Treasury Bills at today’s primary market auction, the second sale in the 4th quarter. The offer includes N50 billion each for 91-day and 182-day bills, while the 364-day bill accounts for N350 billion, or about 77.78% of the total. Settlement is due on Thursday, October 15.
This is the smallest planned Treasury bill auction in the Q4 2026 calendar and is below the N500 billion minimum offer recorded in the 3rd quarter. Since only N80.84 billion in bills is due to mature at settlement, a full sale of the N450 billion offer would remove about N369.16 billion in liquidity from the financial system. However, the final amount allotted may differ from the advertised offer, as recent auctions have sometimes exceeded their stated targets.
Demand for one-year bills remains particularly strong. At the first Q4 auction on October 7, the DMO sold N968.47 billion against a N900 billion offer, with investors bidding N1.683 trillion for the 364-day bill alone, about 2.4 times the amount offered. The one-year stop rate fell to 15.85%, down from 15.89%, and is now 185 basis points below its Q3 peak of 17.70%.
By contrast, demand for the shorter bills was weaker: the 91-day bill attracted N39.42 billion in bids against a N100 billion offer, while combined bids for the 91-day and 182-day bills totaling N86.29 billion against N200 billion offered. Analysts expect continued strong appetite for longer-dated naira assets, although recent pressure in the bond market could push borrowing costs higher.
For October, the government plans N2.15 trillion in Treasury bill offers across three auctions: N900 billion on October 7, N450 billion today, and N800 billion on October 28. The full Q4 program is projected at N5.40 trillion, nearly matching the roughly N5.429 trillion in bills maturing during the quarter, with one-year bills making up N4.10 trillion, or about 75.93%, of planned issuance. Investors can participate through banks and licensed investment platforms, subject to each provider’s minimum bid requirement. Today’s auction will show whether demand for the one-year bill remains strong and whether its stop rate falls further from 15.89% or moves upward.
