LAGOS: Nigeria plans to raise 177 billion naira ($562 million) of short-dated treasury bills at an auction on July 5, the central bank said on Wednesday.
The bank said in a public notice it planned to sell 35 billion naira of three-month debt, 22 billion of six-month bills and 120 billion of one-year notes at the auction, using a Dutch auction system.
Nigeria's central bank issues treasury bills twice a month to finance the budget deficit, help manage commercial lenders' liquidity and curb rising inflation.
The West African country expects its budget deficit to widen to 2.36 trillion naira this year as it tries to spend its way out of a recession, with more than half the deficit to be funded through local borrowing.
Nigeria has, in the last two months, issued short-dated treasury bills to mop-up what it perceived as excess liquidity and curb speculation on the local currency.
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