CBN Offers N450bn Treasury Bills for June 17 Auction Amid DMO’s N1tn Plan

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to offer N450 billion worth of Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) at its auction scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, with settlement expected on June 18.

The offer, contained in an official notice issued to Primary Money Market Dealers (PMMDs), is significantly lower than the N1 trillion indicated in the Debt Management Office’s (DMO) revised second-quarter borrowing programme, raising questions about the final size of the government’s short-term debt issuance.

According to the auction details, the CBN will conduct a Dutch Auction across three tenors, comprising N150 billion in 91-day bills, N50 billion in 182-day bills, and N250 billion in 364-day bills.

Primary dealers are expected to submit bids through the CBN’s Scripless Securities Settlement System (S4) between **8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on June 17. The minimum bid size has been fixed at **N50.001 million**, with subsequent bids required in multiples of N1,000. Dealers may submit multiple bids on their own behalf or for clients.

Successful bidders will receive allotment letters on June 18 and are required to settle payments into their CBN accounts by 11:00 a.m. the same day. However, the apex bank retains the discretion to increase or reduce the amount offered or reject bids where necessary.

The announcement has created uncertainty in the market, as it differs from the DMO’s revised Q2 issuance calendar, which increased the planned June NTB auction to N1 trillion after expanding the overall quarterly borrowing programme from N3.95 trillion to N4.8 trillion.

While the DMO’s updated schedule suggested a larger borrowing requirement, the CBN’s official notice indicates that only N450 billion will be offered. Monetary authorities have yet to clarify whether the lower amount represents a reduction in the planned issuance or whether additional subscriptions beyond the official offer could still be accepted.

At the previous NTB auction held earlier in June, the CBN offered N1 trillion and accepted approximately N1.2 trillion in subscriptions, underscoring strong investor demand.

The DMO’s revised programme shows that total NTB maturities for the second quarter remain at N3.197 trillion, while net new borrowing has increased to approximately N1.6 trillion, more than double the initial target of about N753 billion.

A significant portion of the revised borrowing is concentrated in 364-day Treasury Bills, with planned issuances rising to N4.8 trillion from the N3.95 trillion outlined in April. The strategy suggests a preference for locking in funds over longer tenors to reduce the frequency of refinancing while continuing to rely on Treasury Bills as a key financing instrument.

Investor demand for government securities has remained robust despite tight liquidity conditions. During the June 3 NTB auction, the DMO offered N1 trillion but received nearly N1.946 trillion** in subscriptions, reflecting sustained interest in higher-yielding fixed-income instruments.

The expansion in Treasury Bill issuances also coincides with the CBN’s aggressive liquidity management measures through Open Market Operations (OMO). In one OMO auction conducted in May, the apex bank reportedly absorbed about N3.7 trillion from the financial system.

Although Treasury Bills and OMO instruments are administered by different government entities, both serve the common objective of managing liquidity within the banking sector.

The CBN is expected to conduct one final Treasury Bills auction before the end of the second quarter, in line with the DMO’s updated borrowing calendar.