The Central Bank of Nigeria, acting on behalf of the Debt Management Office, is offering ₦800 billion in Nigerian Treasury Bills at today’s auction, Wednesday 28 October 2026, as banks hold substantial excess cash at the apex bank.
Placements at the CBN’s Standing Deposit Facility stood at ₦6.98 trillion as of Tuesday 27 October, according to liquidity data from the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA). The auction comes as the system is also expecting about ₦2.81 trillion in weekly inflows, led by maturing Open Market Operations (OMO) bills.
How the Offer Is Structured
The ₦800 billion issue is split across three tenors: ₦100 billion in 91-day bills, ₦100 billion in 182-day bills, and ₦600 billion in 364-day bills. The one-year instrument accounts for 75% of the total offer. Securities will be issued through a Dutch auction.
Heavy Inflows Expected This Week
FMDA projects ₦2.813 trillion in system inflows for the week. OMO maturities alone are expected to contribute about ₦2.408 trillion roughly 86% of the total. Other expected flows include Federal Government bond coupon payments of about ₦263.58 billion, Treasury bill maturities of ₦130.72 billion, and corporate bond coupons of roughly ₦10.92 billion.
The projected inflow is slightly below last week’s ₦2.858 trillion, mainly because no Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distribution is scheduled this week. OMO maturities, however, are higher than the previous week’s level.
System liquidity had already risen 10.39% week-on-week to ₦6.936 trillion in the week ended 23 October, before the additional inflows expected now.
Auction Could Absorb More Than Maturities Release
About ₦130.72 billion in Treasury bills is scheduled to mature, with settlement on 29 October. That repayment will return funds to investors and banks and may support reinvestment demand at today’s auction.
If the full ₦800 billion is allotted, the auction would absorb roughly ₦669 billion more than the amount released by the maturing bills alone. Banks’ large SDF balances and the size of OMO maturities mean the CBN and DMO have room to manage liquidity through both the Treasury bill sale and possible further OMO operations. Final impact will depend on subscription levels, allotments and how much of the maturing money is rolled back into new securities.
One-Year Bills Still Dominate Demand
Recent auctions have shown strong appetite for the 364-day paper. At the 7 October auction, the DMO allotted about ₦968 billion against a ₦900 billion offer, with the one-year stop rate easing to 15.85%. Investors had submitted roughly ₦1.68 trillion in bids for that tenor alone. At the 14 October auction, by contrast, the DMO accepted only a fraction of total subscriptions after scaling back the offer.
Today’s sale will test whether that demand remains firm amid elevated banking-system liquidity. Strong bidding could give the DMO room to push stop rates lower; weaker demand or competing yield expectations could limit any further decline.
Market Takeaway
With banks holding nearly ₦7 trillion at the SDF and more than ₦2.8 trillion expected to flow into the system this week, the ₦800 billion Treasury bill offer is both a funding exercise and a liquidity-management tool. Investors and banks will be watching the stop rates especially on the dominant 364-day bill for signals on where short-term government yields are heading next.
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