FG to raise N120bn in short-dated treasury bills

Nigeria plans to sell N119.92 billion ($376.22 million) in short-dated treasury bills at an auction on Nov 16, the central bank said on Tuesday.

A total of N32.43 billion will be sold in the three-month papers, N22.82 billion in six-month bills and N64.67 billion in one-year bills, the central bank said in a public notice. Payment for the purchases would be made on Thursday.

Nigeria issues treasury bills to fund the budget deficit, manage banking system liquidity and curb rising inflation. The West African country’s 2016 budget deficit was estimated at N2.2 trillion, of which around N900 billion is expected to come from local borrowing.