The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to raise N850 billion through a fresh Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) auction scheduled for March 11, 2026.
According to an official tender notice issued to primary market dealers by the apex bank on behalf of the Debt Management Office (DMO), the new sale will bring the total Treasury Bills raised within one week to about N2 trillion.
The planned auction comes just a week after the CBN conducted a similar sale on March 4, where it raised N1.01 trillion from investors amid strong demand for government securities.
Details of the upcoming auction show that the Federal Government will offer Treasury Bills across three maturities, with the sale to be conducted through the Dutch auction system. Settlement is expected to take place the following day.
Breakdown of the offer includes:
N100 billion in 91-day Treasury Bills
N150 billion in 182-day Treasury Bills
N600 billion in 364-day Treasury Bills
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Prospective investors are required to submit bids electronically through the CBN’s Scripless Securities Settlement System (S4) between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
Each bid must be submitted in multiples of N1,000, with a minimum subscription of N50,001,000. Authorized Money Market Dealers may submit multiple bids either for their own accounts, for non-money market dealers, or on behalf of interested members of the investing public.
The apex bank stated that successful bidders will receive allotment letters on Thursday, March 12, while payments must be completed no later than 11:00 a.m. through accounts held with the CBN.
During the March 4 Treasury Bills Primary Market Auction, the CBN offered N1.05 trillion across the same three tenors but recorded total subscriptions of N2.34 trillion, reflecting strong investor appetite.
Demand was largely driven by the 364-day instrument, which attracted N2.13 trillion in bids against N800 billion offered. The CBN eventually allotted N1.01 trillion across the three maturities.
Stop rates at the previous auction settled higher at 15.95 percent for the 91-day bill and 16.73 percent for the 364-day bill, while the 182-day bill remained unchanged at 16.65 percent.
The 364-day Treasury Bill recorded the sharpest rise in yield, climbing 0.83 percentage points compared to the previous auction.
Despite strong oversubscription at the long end of the curve, the one-year instrument recorded the highest repricing and relatively stronger returns.
The NTB auction process is fully digitalised through the Scripless Securities Settlement System (S4), which enables electronic bid submission, allocation and settlement within a single platform. The system, according to the CBN, helps reduce operational errors and improve transparency in the primary market for government securities.
Under the Dutch auction method, yields are determined by actual investor demand rather than pre-fixed rates, with allocations made based on the returns investors are willing to accept.
Market analysts say demand patterns from the previous auction suggest investors are pushing for higher interest rates, despite strong liquidity in the financial system.
Treasury Bills remain one of the Federal Government’s key instruments for short-term borrowing and liquidity management, with market participants expected to watch the March 11 auction closely to see whether yields will continue to trend upward, particularly on longer-tenor instruments.
