The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has rolled out an ambitious plan to raise N5.8 trillion through Treasury Bills in the third quarter of 2026 to support the Federal Government’s borrowing requirements for the year.
This represents a sharp 241% increase compared to the N1.76 trillion raised during the same period in 2025, according to the CBN’s official Nigeria Treasury Bills Issue Programme.
Quarterly Breakdown
The auctions, which run from July 1 to September 23, 2026, with settlements concluding on September 24, will focus heavily on longer-tenor bills:
– 91-day bills: N900 billion
– 182-day bills: N900 billion
– 364-day bills: N4 trillion
Monthly allocations are as follows:
– July: N2 trillion (N300bn for 91-day, N300bn for 182-day, N1.4tn for 364-day)
– August: N2.1 trillion (N300bn for 91-day, N300bn for 182-day, N1.5tn for 364-day)
– September* N1.7 trillion (N300bn for 91-day, N300bn for 182-day, N1.1tn for 364-day)
Treasury Bills serve as short-term debt instruments used by the government to borrow from the public and help manage liquidity in the financial system.
Strategic Shift in Borrowing
The substantial increase in planned domestic borrowing reflects the Federal Government’s strategy to finance the 2026 fiscal deficit largely through local debt markets rather than external sources. This approach is expected to keep yields relatively high in the fixed income market as the government competes for available liquidity.
The heavy emphasis on 364-day bills also signals the government’s preference for extending debt maturities to reduce near-term refinancing pressure.
This aggressive Q3 borrowing programme is likely to influence interest rates and investor behaviour in the money market over the coming months, as banks and institutional investors allocate funds between government securities and private sector lending.
