CBN auctions N4.686tn OMO bills Sep 29, doubles offer, mops liquidity
The Central Bank of Nigeria sold approximately N4.686 trillion in Open Market Operations (OMO) bills at its September 29, 2026 auction, nearly double the N2.5 trillion originally offered and almost twice the N2.433 trillion OMO repayment maturing the same day. Investors submitted N6.399 trillion in total bids across the three tenors, with the 266-day instrument drawing N4.543 trillion in subscriptions—4.54 times its N1 trillion offer—and N2.996 trillion successfully allotted. The 182-day paper attracted N1.337 trillion in bids, N1.225 trillion allotted, while the 147-day tenor saw N519.4 billion subscribed and N464.4 billion allotted, slightly below its N500 billion offer. Stop rates fell to 17.24% for 147-day, 16.94% for 182-day, and 16.23% for 266-day bills, with true yields clustering between 18.41% and 18.53%. The successful allotment exceeded the same-day OMO maturity by about N2.253 trillion, meaning the CBN absorbed roughly 1.93 times the liquidity it injected via maturing bills. Across five September auctions, cumulative OMO sales reached approximately N17.5 trillion, more than 2.7 times the total headline offer of N6.4 trillion. Despite the liquidity drain, the CBN recorded over N6.2 trillion at the Standing Deposit Facility on September 29, and Nairametrics estimated net system liquidity at N8.57 trillion. With OMO yields holding near 18.5%, will you shift funds to longer-dated bills or brace for higher loan costs as monetary tightening persists?