The CBN sells ₦2.95 trillion of OMO bills, about 12 times the previous week's sale, as stop rates edge up to 17.77%
The 3 November open market operation drew ₦3.52 trillion of bids for ₦1.5 trillion on offer
Key findings
- The CBN sold ₦2.95 trillion of OMO bills on 3 November, against ₦1.5 trillion on offer.
- Bids reached ₦3.52 trillion, up from ₦2.28 trillion at the 29 October operation.
- The sale was about 12 times the ₦244.94 billion sold on 29 October and ₦0.32 trillion more than the ₦2.63 trillion sold on 22 October.
- The OMO 16 MAR 2027 bill took ₦2.36 trillion, 80.06% of the day's sale.
- Stop rates ranged from 17.67% to 17.77%, up to 0.08 percentage points on bills re-offered from the previous week.
The Central Bank of Nigeria sold ₦2.95 trillion of open market operation (OMO) bills on 3 November, its largest OMO sale since 29 September. It offered ₦1.5 trillion across three bills and received ₦3.52 trillion of bids, so it sold 196.34% of the amount on offer and 83.71% of what was bid.
The sale was about 12 times the ₦244.94 billion the CBN accepted on 29 October, when it offered ₦1 trillion and turned away most of ₦2.28 trillion of bids. It also exceeded the ₦2.63 trillion sold on 22 October by ₦0.32 trillion.
One bill carried the operation. The OMO 16 MAR 2027 drew ₦2.39 trillion of bids, 4.77 times its ₦500 billion offer, and the CBN allotted ₦2.36 trillion of it at 17.67%. The OMO 02 MAR 2027 sold ₦339.82 billion of ₦539.82 billion bid at 17.77%, and the OMO 09 MAR 2027 sold ₦247.31 billion of ₦592.56 billion bid at 17.71%.
- Amount sold
- ₦2.95 trillion
- Bids received
- ₦3.52 trillion
- Amount offered
- ₦1.5 trillion
- Highest stop rate
- 17.77%
| Bill | Offered | Bids | Sold | Stop rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OMO 02 MAR 2027 | ₦500 billion | ₦539.82 billion | ₦339.82 billion | 17.77% |
| OMO 09 MAR 2027 | ₦500 billion | ₦592.56 billion | ₦247.31 billion | 17.71% |
| OMO 16 MAR 2027 | ₦500 billion | ₦2.39 trillion | ₦2.36 trillion | 17.67% |
Rates moved up slightly. The OMO 02 MAR 2027 cleared at 17.77%, 0.08 percentage points above its 17.69% on 29 October, and the OMO 16 MAR 2027 at 17.67%, 0.04 points above its earlier 17.63%.
Why it matters
OMO sales take naira out of the banking system. Selling nearly twice the amount on offer suggests the CBN chose to absorb a large share of available liquidity rather than ration it, as it did on 29 October. At 17.67%, the bill that took most of the money paid 1.87 percentage points more than the 15.80% stop rate on the 364-day Treasury bill at the 28 October auction, which keeps OMO bills the higher-yielding home for banks' spare cash.
What to watch
- Whether the next OMO operation repeats a sale of this size or returns to rationing bids.
- The next Treasury bill auction, and whether its stop rates move toward OMO levels.
- The official naira rate, which has held near ₦1,346 per dollar since 28 October.
Methodology
Auction lines are the CBN's published OMO results for 3 November, 29 October and 22 October, and the Treasury bill result for 28 October, as held in Dataminal's fixed income dataset in millions of naira. Amounts sold are the sum of the allotments across each day's bills; shares divide the amount sold by the sum of bids or of the amounts offered; rate changes compare the stop rate of the same bill at consecutive operations.