CBN auctions N800B Treasury Bills today as N872B matures—investors watch allotment rates
The CBN, on behalf of the DMO, offers N800 billion in Treasury Bills today (Nov 4, 2026) across 91-day (N100B), 182-day (N100B), and 364-day (N600B) tenors. The one-year bill makes up 75% of the offer. Maturities settling today total N872.546 billion—N67.7B in 182-day and N804.9B in 364-day bills—leaving a N72.5B net repayment gap if fully allotted. Bids must be submitted via the CBN S4 platform between 8:00-11:00 AM; allotment letters go out Nov 5 with payment due by 11:00 AM same day.
This mirrors the Oct 28 auction where N1.91 trillion in subscriptions (2.38x oversubscribed) yielded only N71.16 billion in allotments (8.9%). Stop rates then fell to 15.40% (91-day), 15.79% (182-day), and 15.80% (364-day)—below the 16.62% seen in September. Banking liquidity sits at N7.7 trillion after N2.02 trillion in OMO maturities settled Nov 3, up from N8.59 trillion before the last auction.
The DMO's pattern of rejecting higher-rate bids to keep stop rates down continues. Strong subscriptions don't guarantee allotment. For investors receiving today's N872B in maturing bills, the question is whether to reinvest at potentially lower rates or deploy funds elsewhere.
With T-bill rates declining despite heavy oversubscription, will you chase the 15.8% one-year rate knowing most bids get rejected, or redirect maturing funds to alternatives like OMO bills (recently 17%+) or money market funds?