Nigeria’s central bank on Wednesday raised more money from an auction of treasury bills than originally planned after it received subscriptions for almost four times the amount of debt initially on offer, traders said.

The bank raised 215.88 billion naira ($686 million) at the auction, 75 billion naira more than planned, with the one-year paper accounting for most of the debt. Total subscription at the auction stood at 559 billion naira.

Investors bid as much as 18.9 percent for the one-year debt and as low as 13.15 percent for the three months note.

The bank raised 22.78 billion naira in three month bills at 13.15 percent, 24.74 billion naira in six month bills at 16.8 percent and 168.36 billion naira in one-year bills at 17 percent.

Traders said foreign investors sold dollars last week in anticipation of the auction, boosting demand for the bills and also liquidity on the currency market.

However currency market liquidity waned on Wednesday as some international investors were waiting to see where they yields would end up, they said.

The central bank issues treasury bills twice a month to help the government fund its budget deficit, support commercial lenders in managing liquidity and curb inflation. (Reuters)

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