Victor Ezeja
In an attempt to control money supply as part of efforts to rein in inflation in the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has announced that it would sell N1.64 trillion worth of treasury bills in the second quarter of 2024.
This was announced by the CBN in the Treasury Bills Issue program that was made public on Friday.
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The bank said it will issue Treasury Bills for N414.29 billion on a 91-day tenor, N43.74 billion on a 182-day tenor, and N1.18 trillion on a 364-day tenor within the period.
According to the programme, CBN would in March, sell N660.62 billion worth of Treasury Bills, comprising N32.73 billion worth of 91 days bills, N12.97 billion worth of 182 days bills and N614.92 billion worth of 364 bills.
CBN intends to sell N292.17 billion worth of Treasury Bills in April. This amount would be made up of N10.61 billion in 91-day bills, N15.97 billion in 182-day bills, and N265.59 billion in 364-day bills.
The apex bank plans to also sell N688.3 billion worth of Treasury bills in May. This amount includes N362.9 billion for 91-day bills, N14.7 billion for 182-day bills, and N302.67 billion for 384-day bills.
The apex bank uses Treasury bills, which are short-term (less than a year) debt instruments, to borrow money from the public on behalf of the federal government. This also serves as a means of controlling money supply in the economy which helps to also fight inflation.
Nigeria’s headline inflation is at January 2024 is 29.9 per cent, while the food inflation is 35.41 per cent. the monetary authority has been pulling all strings to bring down the inflation rate and also stabilize the economy. During the last Tuesday’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the bank decided to raise the benchmark interest rate from 18.75 per cent to 22.75 per cent. This is another monetary policy-tightening measure targeting inflation.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
