Nigeria raises 216 bln naira in Treasury bill, more than offer at auction

The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised 215.88 billion naira at a treasury bill auction on Wednesday, 75 billion naira more than it has initially offered due to huge subscription from invesstors, the bank said on Wednesday.
The bank said subscription from investors total 559 billion naira, almost four times the amount the bank initially planned to raise.
Data from the bank showed that the one-year paper accounted for most of the volume of treasury bills raised.
Range of bids from was between 18.9 percent for the one-year debt and as low as 13.15 percent for the three months note.
The bank raised 22.78 billion naira in three month bills at 13.15 percent, 24.74 billion naira in six month bills at 16.8 percent and 168.36 billion naira in one-year bills at 17 percent.
Traders said foreign investors sold dollars last week in anticipation of the auction, boosting demand for the bills and also liquidity on the currency market.
Dollar liquidity rose slightly to $186.37 million on the investor forex market on Wednesday against $102.75 million on Tuesday with the local currency closed at 360.67 per dollar.
The central bank issues treasury bills twice a month to help the government fund its budget deficit, support commercial lenders in managing liquidity and curb inflation.