The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold a total of N3.34 trillion in Treasury bill (TBill) auctions in the first eight months of 2022.
This is according to a report from CSL Stockbrokers Limited, (CSLS), a wholly owned subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc.
The report revealed that the apex bank sold a total of N446.15 billion in treasury billl auctions at the end of August 2022, representing a 9.5 per cent increase than the N407.55 billion allotted in June 2022.
The sum is 34% higher than the N2.5 trillion in securities offered for sale during the review period.
In particular, for the 91-day tenor, the CBN sold a total of N3.43 billion in August 2022, a 43% decrease from N5.97 billion in July 2022.
For the 182-day tenor, the amount sold increased by 319 per cent to N11.52 billion in August 2022 from N2.75 billion recorded in July 2022 while for the 364- day tenor, the amount sold increased by 8 per cent to N431.19 billion from N398.83 billion in the previous month.
The 364-day bills made up 94.21 per cent of total sales as investors continued to seek higher yield investment opportunities.
The sales in August were at greater costs than anticipated due to gradually rising stop rates. The 91-day stop rate jumped from 3.5 percent at the August 10 auction, 2.8 percent (July 27), and 2.75 percent at the August 24 sale to 4.0 percent (July 13).
Similarly, the 182-day stop rate increased to 5 per cent as of 24 August from 4.5% (August 10), 4.1 per cent (July 27), and 4 per cent (July 13) while the 364-day stop rate increased to 8.5 per cent as of August 24, 2022, from 7.45 per cent (August 10), 7.0 per cent (July 27), and 7.0 per cent (July 13).