THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it had withdrawn N10 billion from circulation through the sale of treasury bills.

The withdrawal was contained in the apex bank’s weekly report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, on Tuesday.

The report said the money was withdrawn last week, through the issuance of government securities at the Primary Market Auction (PMA) window.

At the PMA window on March 11, the CBN sold 91-day tenor bills worth N5 billion; N30 billion for the 182-day tenor bills and N30 billion for the 364-day tenor bills.

NAN reported that the bills were oversubscribed by investors.

For the 91-day tenor bills, investors requested for N222.2 billion worth; N32 billion for the 182-day tenor bills, while N16.48 billion was staked on 364-day tenor bills.

The report said the apex bank moderated the sales of the bills by selling only N65 billion worth.

The bid rates on the 91-day tenor bills varied between 0.95 per cent and 2.02 per cent, while the 182-day tenor bills ranged between 1.25 per cent and 3.0 per cent.

For the 364-day tenor bills, the bid rate ranged between 1.55 per cent and 4.99 per cent.

On the other hand, the issue rates for the 91-day tenor bill stood between 0.95 per cent and 1.04 per cent.

According to the report, the three bills would mature on June 10, 2010; September 9, 2010 and March 10, 2011 respectively.