FG increases domestic borrowing by 241%

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

As part of the Federal Government (FG) borrowing plan for the 2026 budget, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has issued Treasury Bills, TBs, to raise N5.8 trillion in the third quarter of 2026 (Q3’26).

This represents a 241 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase when compared to N1.76 trillion sold in Q3’25.

CBN disclosed this in its Nigeria Treasury Bills Issue programme for Q3’26.

Treasury Bills are short term (less than one year) debt instruments used by the apex bank to borrow money from the Nigerian public on behalf of the federal government.  CBN also uses TBs to control money supply in the economy.

The TB issue programme commenced on July 1st, and ends on September 23rd, 2026. The settlement date began yesterday and ends on September 24th, 2026.

During the period, the apex bank will issue TBs worth N900 billion on 91 days tenor, N900 billion on 182 days and N4 trillion on 364 days.

A breakdown of the programme revealed that in July, the apex bank plans to issue N2 trillion worth of TBs, comprising N300 billion worth of 91 days bills, N300 billion worth of 182 days bills and N1.4 trillion worth of 364 bills.

In August, the apex bank issued N2.1 trillion worth of TBs, comprising N300 billion worth of 91 days bills, N300 billion worth of 182 days bills, and N1.5 trillion worth of 364 days bills.

In September, CBN plans to sell N1.7 trillion worth of TBs comprising N300 billion worth of 91 days bills, N300 billion worth of 182 days bills and N1.1 trillion worth of 384 days bills.