Oman’s central bank raises OMR8.45mn through treasury bills

Muscat: Oman’s central bank raised OMR8.45 million by way of allotting treasury bills on Monday.

The value of the allotted treasury bills amounted to OMR0.25 million, for a maturity period of 28 days. The average accepted price reached OMR99.750 for every OMR100, and the minimum accepted price arrived at OMR99.750 per OMR100. The average discount rate and the average yield reached 3.25893% and 3.26710%, respectively.

Additionally, treasury bills worth OMR3.2 million for a maturity period of 91 days was also issued. The average accepted price reached OMR99.043 for every OMR100, and the minimum accepted price arrived at OMR99.035 per OMR100. The average discount rate and the average yield reached 3.83864% and 3.87574%, respectively.

Also, treasury bills worth OMR3.5 million for a maturity period of 182 days was also issued. The average accepted price reached OMR98.106 for every OMR100, and the minimum accepted price arrived at OMR98.100 per OMR100. The average discount rate and the average yield reached 3.79898% and 3.87233%, respectively.

Additionally, treasury bills worth OMR1.5 million for a maturity period of 364 days was also issued on Monday. The average accepted price reached OMR96.287 for every OMR100, and the minimum accepted price arrived at OMR96.280 per OMR100. The average discount rate and the average yield reached 3.72353% and 3.86713%, respectively.

Treasury bills are short-term highly secured financial instruments issued by the Ministry of Finance, and they provide licensed commercial banks the opportunity to invest their surplus funds. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) acts as the Issue Manager and provides the added advantage of ready liquidity through discounting and repurchase facilities (Repo).

It may be noted that the interest rate on the Repo operations with CBO is 4.25% while the discount rate on the Treasury Bills Discounting Facility with CBO is 4.75%.

Furthermore, treasury bills promote the local money market by creating a benchmark yield curve for short-term interest rates. Additionally, the Government may also resort to this instrument whenever felt necessary for financing its recurrent expenditures.