Nigeria sold 101.22 billion naira ($642.67 million) worth of treasury bills this week at a regular debt auction, with yields on the 91-day inching up while the 182-day bill had lower yields than at the previous auction, the central bank said on Thursday. 

The regulator sold 37.49 billion naira of the 91-day treasury bill at a 14.30 percent marginal rate, up from 14.18 percent at the previous auction. 

The central bank auctioned 63.73 billion naira in the 182-day bill at 15 percent, compared with 15.48 percent previously, the bank said in a statement. 

Total demand stood at 326.57 billion naira versus 328.78 billion naira at the last auction. 

Yields on Nigeria’s most liquid 3-year government bond fell on the secondary market on Wednesday, after a surprise decline in inflation and a move by the central bank to hold rates steady for a third time in a row. 

Nigeria, Africa’s second biggest economy after South Africa, issues treasury bills regularly as part of monetary control measures to help lenders manage their liquidity.

Source: Reuters/Oludare Mayowa