Nigeria raises 141 bln naira in treasury at lower yields

LAGOS, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Nigeria sold 140.88 billion naira ($448 million) worth of short-dated treasury bills at an auction on Wednesday attracting lower yields across the board, except on the 3-month debt which was flat, data from the central bank showed on Thursday.

The central bank sold 28.12 billion naira of the 3-month paper at 14 percent, the same as at the last auction on Sept. 14. It sold 23.68 billion naira of 6-month debt at 17.27 percent against 17.77 percent previously.

It sold 89.08 billion of 1-year bills at 18.30 percent compared with 18.48 percent at the previous auction.

Traders said yields on local debt are expected to gradually trade lower after the central bank retained its benchmark interest rate at 14 percent at its last MPC meeting on Tuesday. ($1 = 314.5000 naira) (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)