The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday launched an ad hoc auction of N750 billion in Treasury Bills (T-Bills), following a revision of its Q4 2025 issuance calendar.
The move came as the apex bank intensified efforts to manage liquidity, stabilise short-term interest rates, and support the Federal Government’s growing financing needs under the 2025 budget cycle.
According to the updated calendar of the apex bank, the CBN expanded its total T-Bill issuance for the quarter to N4.72 trillion, up from the previous N3.64 trillion.
The latest auction, the second for December, underscored heightened borrowing requirements as fiscal pressures continue to mount and the government accelerates its implementation of priority programmes.
The N750bn offer was spread across three maturities: N100 billion in 91-day bills, N150 billion in 182-day bills, and N500 billion in 364-day bills.
Market analysts noted that the structure of the offer reflects the CBN’s continued preference for longer-dated instruments, aimed at pulling excess liquidity out of the banking system while aligning yields with tightening monetary conditions.
The Central Bank is also widely expected to roll over the N512 billion worth of maturing 364-day bills at the auction, maintaining its policy stance of curbing inflationary pressures through frequent liquidity sterilisation.
The auction comes against the backdrop of government borrowing needs, partly influenced by slower-than-expected revenue inflows and elevated expenditure commitments in the 2025 fiscal plan. The expanded T-Bill programme is viewed as a complementary strategy to ongoing bond issuances by the Debt Management Office (DMO), helping the government bridge short-term funding gaps while reducing reliance on Ways and Means advances.
Fixed-income traders told The Nation that demand for the 364-day paper is likely to remain strong, driven by pension funds, banks, and asset managers seeking higher yields amid tight monetary policy. However, the shorter tenors may record mixed investor sentiment as liquidity conditions remain uneven across the banking system.
The CBN’s aggressive T-Bill activity this quarter also signals a continued commitment to its monetary tightening cycle, with analysts projecting that yields may trend upward in the near term as the apex bank balances inflation control with market liquidity management.
With December auctions still ongoing, stakeholders are watching closely to see how the market absorbs the increased supply, and how the CBN’s stance will shape interest rate dynamics heading into 2026.
