SAT NOV 14 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s money market came under renewed liquidity pressure during the week, pushing the overnight (OVN) funding rate up 23 basis points week-on-week to 20.3%, even as demand for government bonds strengthened, driving yields lower across the benchmark curve.
The rise in funding costs followed substantial net liquidity withdrawals, as N2.30 trillion in Open Market Operations (OMO) maturities was outweighed by N3.85 trillion in OMO primary market auction (PMA) allotments and N564.41 billion in net Treasury bills (NTB) issuances.
Consequently, average system liquidity declined to a net long position of N5.32 trillion from N7.62 trillion in the previous week, reflecting the combined impact of heavy primary market issuances and lower balances at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Standing Deposit Facility (SDF).
Treasury Bills Market
Trading in the Treasury bills secondary market was mixed, with the average yield across instruments rising 3bps to 18.2%.
By segment, average NTB secondary market yields declined 5bps to 17.8%, as unmet demand from Wednesday’s (November 11) NTB auction spilled into the secondary market.
In contrast, average OMO secondary market yields climbed 21bps to 18.8%, driven by late-week selloffs in shorter-dated instruments, particularly December maturities.
At Wednesday’s NTB auction, the Debt Management Office (DMO) offered N800.00 billion across tenors, attracting total subscriptions of N1.12 trillion and allotting N713.30 billion.
Stop rates were unchanged at 15.40% and 15.79% for the 91-day and 182-day bills, respectively, while the 364-day stop rate rose 9bps to 15.89%.
At Tuesday’s OMO auction, the CBN offered N1.50 trillion in bills, attracting subscriptions of N4.07 trillion before allotting N3.85 trillion. Stop rates settled at 17.44%, 16.68% and 15.99% for the 154-day, 252-day and 329-day instruments, respectively.
FGN Bonds Market
In contrast to the mixed performance in Treasury bills, the FGN bonds secondary market extended gains, with average yields declining 10bps to 16.3%, as investors renewed demand for selected maturities following the revision of the Federal Government’s issuance plan.
Across the benchmark yield curve, average yields declined at the short, mid and long ends by 9bps, 8bps and 15bps, respectively.
The rally was led by yield declines in the MAR-2027, FEB-2031 and APR-2037 bonds, which recorded contractions of 84bps, 21bps and 18bps, respectively.
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