Nigerian Treasury bill yields fell sharply at the September 23, 2026 primary market auction after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cut its benchmark interest rate by 350 basis points to 23%, accelerating the repricing of short-term government securities.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) offered ₦500 billion across the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills, with total investor subscriptions reaching ₦4.23 trillion, according to the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) post-auction report published on September 24, 2026. The demand was equivalent to about 8.46 times the amount offered.
Stop rates fell across all three tenors. The 91-day bill declined by 80 basis points to 15.50% from 16.30%, while the 182-day bill dropped 70 basis points to 15.80% from 16.50%. The 364-day bill recorded a 73-basis-point decline to 15.89% from 16.62%.
Demand was heavily concentrated on the one-year security. The 364-day bill attracted ₦4.09 trillion in bids against ₦300 billion offered, while the 91-day and 182-day bills received ₦54.93 billion and ₦82.23 billion respectively against ₦100 billion offered for each tenor. The DMO ultimately allotted ₦497.59 billion, according to the FMDA report.
The auction followed the CBN’s September 22, 2026 Monetary Policy Committee meeting, where the committee reduced the Monetary Policy Rate from 26.50% to 23%. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso announced the decision after the committee’s 307th meeting in Abuja, with the bank also adjusting its standing facilities corridor to +50/-300 basis points around the MPR.
The latest auction extends the decline in Treasury bill yields seen in recent weeks. The FMDA said the 364-day stop rate has fallen by 177 basis points since July 15, when it stood at 17.66%.
Analysts at Coronation Merchant Bank expect the downward movement to continue in the short term. In comments reported by BusinessDay on September 24, 2026, the analysts projected another 100 to 150 basis points of compression over the next one or two auctions, potentially taking the one-year Treasury bill rate towards 15.00%–15.50%.
However, Coronation also identified the relationship between Treasury bills and Open Market Operations (OMO) securities as an important indicator of the direction of monetary policy. The analysts noted that OMO paper was being issued at yields close to 20%, while Treasury bill rates were falling, creating a widening difference between the two instruments.
The lower Treasury bill rates could reduce the cost of short-term government borrowing as new securities are issued at cheaper rates. For investors, however, the repricing means lower returns on newly issued government paper.
The shift could also affect the relative attractiveness of equities and other assets. BusinessDay reported on September 24, 2026 that market analysts expected falling fixed-income yields to support greater interest in equities as investors reassess returns across asset classes.
For now, the September 23 auction provides an early indication of how quickly the CBN’s 350-basis-point rate reduction is being transmitted into Nigeria’s fixed-income market, with investors showing particularly strong demand for longer-dated Treasury bills.
