Nigeria’s central bank sold about 400 billion naira ($1.27 billion) of Treasury bills on Friday, lifting the interbank lending rate up to 12 percent, traders said.
The bank sold 82 billion naira in 181-day Treasury bills at 18 per cent and 309 billion at 18.6 per cent, mopping up liquidity from the money market and pushing up the cost of borrowing among commercial lenders.
“We have some major placers quoting about 20 per cent for overnight placement, but most takers are not willing to borrow at that rate,” one dealer said, adding that the rate eventually settled around between 10 per cent and 12 per cent at 1328 GMT.
Markets had opened on Thursday with a surplus liquidity of about 467 billion naira due to an injection of matured Treasury bills until the central bank later debited banks for the purchases of 302.4 billion in primary market Treasury bills.
Traders said the central bank on Friday further moved to reduce liquidity with the sale of open market operations bills, which fetched returns above the inflation rate.
Nigeria raised 302.4 billion naira at Wednesday’s Treasury bills auction, more than the 242 billion planned due to strong demand for the one-year debt, while payment for the purchased was debited from commercial lenders’ accounts on Friday.
Local currency traded flat at both official interbank window and parallel market, with black market traders quoting the naira flat at 498 to the dollar. Commercial lenders quoted the currency at 305.25 a dollar, about the level it has traded since August.
Nigeria’s main all-share index . fell by 0.52 percent to close at 25.802 points on Friday, dragged down by losses in Nestle (2.86 percent) and Guaranty Trust Bank (2.46 percent).
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
