CBN mops up N4.72 trillion via OMO sales in two days as investors chase near-20% yields

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) withdrew a combined N4.72 trillion from the banking system through four Open Market Operations (OMO) auctions conducted between August 26 and 27, 2026, with the shorter tenor paper yielding close to 20%.

However, N4.3 trillion flowed back into the system through primary market repayments over the same two-day window, according to CBN’s financial data obtained by Nairametrics at the close of business on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Across the four auctions, spanning tenors of 96, 97, 132 and 152 days, the CBN offered a combined N2.0 trillion.

What the data is saying:

Total investor subscriptions stood at N8.62 trillion, more than four times the amount on offer, reflecting sustained institutional appetite for CBN paper.

• August 26 — 97-day OMO: N500 billion offered, N783.49 billion subscribed, N613 billion allotted, N113 billion above the advertised offer. Final rate for the 97-day OMO: 19.90%, the highest of the four instruments.
• August 26 — 132-day OMO: N500 billion offered, N3.478 trillion subscribed (6.96x), N2.183 trillion allotted, more than four times the initial offer. Final rate: 19.65%, with successful bids clustering tightly between 19.65% and 19.79%.
• August 27 — 96-day OMO: N500 billion offered, N1.067 trillion subscribed (2.13x), N160.46 billion allotted, just 15.0% of total subscriptions. Final rate: 19.85%.
• August 27 — 152-day OMO: N500 billion offered, N3.294 trillion subscribed (6.59x), N1.768 trillion allotted, the largest single allotment of the four auctions. Final rate: 19.32%, the lowest of the set.

Taken together, the 132-day and 152-day instruments accounted for the bulk of both demand and allotment, together drawing N6.77 trillion in subscriptions and N3.95 trillion in allotments, roughly 84% of the two-day total.

A notable pattern across the four auctions was the inverse relationship between tenor length and clearing yield.

The 152-day instrument, the longest tenor on offer, cleared at 19.32%, the lowest rate among the four, while the two shortest tenors, the 96-day and 97-day bills, cleared at 19.85% and 19.90% respectively, the highest rates recorded.

The intense subscriptions for the longer-dated tenors, even though they cleared at comparatively lower yields than the shorter 96-day and 97-day bills, suggests that investors were willing to accept a lower annualised yield in exchange for locking in returns over a longer holding period, a dynamic that has repeatedly shown up across the CBN’s OMO and Treasury Bills auctions in 2026.

More insights: the liquidity tug-of-war

The scale of the OMO mop-up did not occur in isolation. Over the same window, the banking system received substantial liquidity injections through maturing government securities.

• Primary market repayments totalled N4.302 trillion across August 26 (N2.321 trillion) and August 27 (N1.981 trillion).
• Against this, primary market sales on August 27 alone withdrew N762.89 billion, leaving a net primary market liquidity injection of N3.539 trillion for the period.
• Combining this net primary market injection against the N4.724 trillion drained through OMO sales produces an estimated net liquidity withdrawal of approximately N1.185 trillion for the two-day period, meaning the CBN’s OMO activity more than offset the liquidity freed up by maturing securities.

Against this, primary market sales on August 27 withdrew N762.89 billion from the financial system, reducing the total liquidity released from maturing securities.

After accounting for the primary market sales, the net liquidity injection stood at N3.539 trillion.

• However, the CBN also withdrew N4.724 trillion through OMO sales during the two-day period.
• This means the OMO operations absorbed more liquidity than was injected through maturing securities.
• Overall, the CBN recorded an estimated net liquidity withdrawal of approximately N1.185 trillion for the two-day period.

Despite this net absorption, the banking system remained highly liquid throughout, with opening balances of banks and discount houses standing at N169.55 billion on August 26, rising to N223.89 billion on August 27, before easing to N194.76 billion on August 28.

The Standing Deposit Facility, where banks park excess cash with the CBN, held a balance of N3.42 trillion as of August 28, underscoring that even after the aggressive OMO mop-up, the system retained substantial spare liquidity.

What you should know:

The N4.72 trillion in OMO sales over just two days adds to what has already been one of the CBN’s most active liquidity sterilisation stretches of the year, following the N7.18 trillion mopped up through OMO auctions in July alone.

• With OMO bills now accessible to individuals and other eligible investors through banks, rather than restricted solely to Money Market Dealers, the widening investor base has contributed to the persistent multiples of oversubscription seen across nearly every auction this year.
• The CBN’s willingness to allot several multiples above its advertised offer size, in this case more than N2.7 trillion above the combined N2.0 trillion headline offer, continues to signal that the apex bank is treating OMO auctions as an active, on-demand sterilisation tool.
• With N3.42 trillion still sitting in the Standing Deposit Facility as of August 28, and further N2.25 trillion OMO maturities in the pipeline, according to Cordros Securities Limited, system liquidity is expected to remain supportive next week.

However, additional OMO issuances and a N700 billion Treasury Bills auction scheduled for next week could absorb part of the surplus as the CBN sustains pace of aggressive sterilization into September, particularly as the Q3 2026 Treasury Bills programme’s remaining auction dates approach.