Lagos, Nigeria - Determined to check rising inflation in the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week sold 130 billion naira in 91, 182 and 364-day Treasury bill, according to the Tribune newspaper. According to the newspaper, a breakdown showed that the CBN sold 50 billion naira each in the 182-day and 364-day instruments at marginal rates of 8.41 per cent and 9.09 per cent respectively, and 30 billion naira in the 91-day bills at 6.8 per cent. The newspaper explained that the yield on the 182-day paper was higher than at the previous auction last month, when it was offered at 8.25 per cent. The yields on the 364-day and 91-day were down slightly from 9.10 per cent and 6.85 per cent previously.

Total subscription stood at 310.79 billion naira compared to 364.6 billion naira last month, but the regulator stuck to its initial offer.

Dealers said 70 billion naira worth of papers matured last week, which means only 60 billion naira actually left the system for the apex bank’s vaults.

Nigeria issues treasury bills regularly as part of measures to curb inflation, control money supply and help lenders manage their liquidity.

The central bank wants to hold down inflation, which stood at 12.1 per cent year-on-year in January and has been in double digits since 2009.