Nigeria's treasury auction 4-1/2 times oversubscribed

Kakawa Discount House chief, Jaiyeola

A Nigerian short-term debt sale was 4-1/2 times oversubscribed by local pension funds and foreign investors on Wednesday, driving yields down across maturities, dealers said.
Nigeria received 680.14 billion naira ($4.21 billion) in subscriptions for Treasury bills ranging from 3-month to one-year maturities. It had aimed to raise 150.61 billion naira ($932 million) and the heavy demand pushed yields down more than 0.70 percentage point across the board, dealers said.
Offshore funds have renewed their appetite for Nigerian assets, dealers say, after the West African country rebased its gross domestic product (GDP), overtaking South Africa as the continent's biggest economy and making it a more attractive destination for investors.
Demand for the debt helped the naira currency firm 0.34 percent against the dollar on Wednesday.
The central bank sold 34.88 billion naira worth of 91-day bills at 11 percent, lower than the 11.71 percent at the previous auction earlier in April.
It sold 30 billion naira in the 180-day notes at 11.77 percent, 1.07 percentage point below the yield it paid at the last auction, while the one-year paper fetched 12.24 percent, against 13.04 percent at the previous sale.