It also sold 364-day bills, but there were no bids for its 182-day paper, Overall the bank sold 1 billion rupees ($36.30 million) of

91-day and 364-day bills, at yields of 2.78 percent and 4.23 percent respectively, with the bulk bought in the longer maturity.

Just 45 million of the 91-day paper, on which yields sank to a record low of 1.73 percent at a Feb 11 auction, was sold.

The central bank said last month it would cap commercial banks' holdings of Treasury bills from this month to spur lending to the private sector.

The central bank also raised banks' reserve requirements to

7 percent from 6 percent last month, citing the need to tackle excess liquidity. ($1=27.55 Mauritius Rupees)