NTB stop rates crash across tenors after CBN’s 350bps rate cut; see new rates

The Debt Management Office (DMO), in conjunction with the CBN, sharply cut stop rates across all three Treasury Bills (NTB) tenors at its Wednesday, September 23, 2026, primary market auction, a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cut its Monetary Policy Rate by 350 basis points to 23.00%.

The DMO, with the CBN, allotted N497.59 billion against an offer size of N600 billion, despite massive N4.23 trillion in subscriptions across the three tenors.

The 364-day bill accounted for N4.09 trillion, or roughly 97% of total demand, even as its stop rate fell 73 basis points to 15.89%.

The results show a rapid repricing of government securities following the CBN’s move toward monetary easing, reversing the elevated yield environment seen through July and August.

NTB stop rates plunge after CBN cut

The three Treasury Bills recorded substantial declines in stop rates at the auction, with the 91-day bill recording the largest cut of 80 basis points. The 182-day and 364-day bills followed with declines of 70 and 73 basis points respectively.

• The 91-day NTB attracted N54.93 billion in subscriptions against N100 billion offered, with N11.03 billion allotted at a 15.50% stop rate, down from 16.30%. Its secondary-market rate was 17.00%.
• The 182-day NTB received N82.23 billion in subscriptions against N100 billion offered, while N39.49 billion was allotted at 15.80%, compared with 16.50% previously. Its secondary-market rate was 15.90%.
• The 364-day NTB recorded N4.094 trillion in subscriptions against N400 billion offered, with N447.07 billion allotted at a 15.89% stop rate, down from 16.62%. Its secondary-market rate was 15.60%.

The 91-day bill was therefore the most sharply discounted against its secondary-market level, while the 182-day bill cleared just 10 basis points below the secondary-market rate.

One-year NTB demand hits N4 trillion:

The September 23 auction extends the easing trend recorded at the September 9 and September 16 auctions. At the September 9 auction, the CBN allotted N1.05 trillion as the 364-day NTB stop rate fell to 16.62%, marking the third consecutive cut on the tenor, as Nairametrics reported.

• The additional 73-basis-point reduction on September 23 takes the cumulative decline in the 364-day stop rate to 146 basis points across four consecutive auctions.
• The 364-day rate has fallen from a peak of 17.70% recorded on July 8 to 15.89% at the latest auction.
• Demand for the one-year bill reached 10.24 times the amount offered, prompting the DMO to allot N447.07 billion, or N47.07 billion above the advertised N400 billion.

By contrast, the 91-day and 182-day bills were undersubscribed, receiving 0.55 times and 0.82 times their respective offer sizes.

Investor appetite has remained concentrated in the 364-day bill since the CBN began its campaign of monetary policy tightening in 2023 with irresistibly robust yields. But now, the hawkish monetary policy is beginning to shift toward repricing government’s securities.

DMO cuts borrowing costs as rates fall:

The DMO’s decision to allot N447.07 billion on the 364-day tenor while cutting the stop rate signals a lower borrowing-cost environment as interest rates transition downward. The move came despite the DMO receiving N4.23 trillion in total subscriptions across the three tenors.

• For fixed-income investors, the auction points to continued moderation in nominal yields if liquidity remains strong and the CBN’s accommodative policy direction persists.
• The 91-day stop rate of 15.50% is already 150 basis points below its secondary-market rate, highlighting the speed of the repricing.
• The auction also marks a reversal from the high-yield environment that prevailed through July and August, when government securities offered materially higher returns. With the 364-day NTB now at 15.89%, the latest auction reinforces the shift toward lower government security yields.

The September 23 results therefore highlight how quickly the fixed-income market is responding to the CBN’s 350-basis-point rate cut, with implications for government borrowing costs and the broader pricing of fixed-income assets.