The Debt Management Office (DMO) rejected a large share of investors’ bids at Nigeria’s October 14, 2026, Treasury bills auction, allotting only ₦269.06 billion out of ₦1.032 trillion in subscriptions as the interest rate on one-year government securities rose for the first time since August.
The auction, conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on behalf of the Federal Government, saw the stop rate on 364-day Treasury bills increase by five basis points to 15.90%, from 15.85% at the October 7 auction.
According to The PUNCH report published on October 17, 2026, the DMO accepted approximately 26.1% of total subscriptions, while the difference between bids received and allotments stood at about ₦763 billion.
The Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA), in its post-auction analysis published on October 20, 2026, said total subscriptions fell by approximately 42% from ₦1.77 trillion at the October 7 auction, despite the reduction in the government’s offer.
The CBN offered ₦450 billion across the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day instruments, half the ₦900 billion offered at the previous auction, according to the FMDA analysis.
Investor demand remained concentrated on the one-year bill. The 364-day instrument attracted ₦982.21 billion in subscriptions against an offer of ₦350 billion, representing approximately 95.2% of total bids.
However, the DMO allotted only ₦220 billion for the tenor, leaving about ₦762 billion in one-year bids unallotted. Investors submitted bids at rates ranging from 15.00% to 18.18%, but the government settled at a stop rate of 15.90%.
The 91-day bill attracted ₦19.91 billion in subscriptions against an offer of ₦50 billion, while the 182-day instrument received ₦30.10 billion against the same offer size.
The DMO allotted ₦19.52 billion and ₦29.54 billion on the two shorter tenors, respectively. Their stop rates remained unchanged at 15.50% and 15.80%.
The five-basis-point increase in the one-year rate marks a pause in the decline in Treasury bill yields that followed the CBN’s monetary policy easing in September.
On September 22, 2026, the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee cut the Monetary Policy Rate by 350 basis points, from 26.50% to 23.00%.
Nairametrics reported on October 14, 2026, that the previous 15.85% stop rate on the 364-day bill was 185 basis points below the third-quarter peak of 17.70%, recorded on July 8.
Meanwhile, the government’s decision to allot substantially less than the amount offered suggests a cautious approach to domestic borrowing costs. The FMDA’s October 20 analysis said the DMO appeared to be resisting upward pressure on rates by rejecting higher bids rather than accepting them at the yields investors demanded.
The pressure was also visible in the secondary market. According to the FMDA, the average Treasury bill yield rose to 17.86% on October 13 from 17.64% on October 7, while the 12-month benchmark yield increased by 61 basis points to 18.38%.
The next scheduled Treasury bills auction is October 28, 2026, with ₦800 billion planned for issuance, according to the fourth-quarter calendar reported by Nairametrics on October 14.
The auction will provide another indication of whether the DMO maintains its selective allotment approach and whether investors continue to demand higher returns on longer-dated government securities.
