Nigeria to raise $773.44 million in Treasury bills

Nigeria plans to raise 245.18 billion naira ($773.44 million)worth of Treasury bills with maturities ranging between three months and a year on Aug. 3, traders said on Tuesday citing a central bank Treasury bill calendar.

The central bank plans to issue 45.18 billion naira in 3-month debt, 80 billion naira of 6-month paper and 120 billion naira of 1-year bills in a Dutch auction, they said.

Indicative rates for the auction are 16 percent for 3-month, 18 percent for 6-months and 18.5 percent for 1-year bills, one trader said. The auction’s results will be published the day after the sale.

Yields on fixed income securities have been rising in recent months with the central bank mopping up naira liquidity to try to lure back foreign investors who sold naira assets following the plunge in the price of oil, Nigeria’s economic mainstay.

The bank lifted interest rates by 200 basis points last week to 14 percent to help fight inflation, which hit a 10-year high of 16.5 percent in June.

The central bank was not immediately available to comment. ($1 = 317.0000 naira) (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Louise Ireland)