Muscat: The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) successfully raised a total of OMR23.4 million through the issuance of treasury bills, which were allotted on Monday.
The value of these treasury bills, which were issued for a maturity period of 28 days, amounted to RO 3.1 million.
The average price per RO 100 for these treasury bills was RO 99.671, with a minimum price of RO 99.670 per RO 100. The average discount rate and the average yield on these treasury bills were calculated at 4.28917% and 4.30333%, respectively.
For a maturity period of 182 days, the value of the treasury bills increased to RO 7 million, with an average price per RO 100 of RO 97.686 and a minimum price of RO 97.680 per RO 100. The average discount rate and the average yield on these treasury bills were recorded at 4.63985% and 4.74974%, respectively.
Additionally, for a maturity period of 364 days, the value of the treasury bills rose to RO 13.3 million, with an average price per RO 100 of RO 95.469 and a minimum price of RO 95.450 per RO 100. The average discount rate and the average yield on these treasury bills were calculated at 4.54365% and 4.75945%, respectively.
It is important to note that these treasury bills are short-term, highly secured financial instruments issued by the Ministry of Finance. They offer licensed commercial banks the opportunity to invest their surplus funds. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) serves as the Issue Manager, providing the additional benefit of ready liquidity through discounting and repurchase facilities (Repo).
It should also be mentioned that the interest rate for Repo operations with the CBO is 5.50%, whereas the discount rate for Treasury Bills Discounting Facility with the CBO is 6.00%.
Moreover, Treasury Bills play a crucial role in promoting the local money market by establishing a benchmark yield curve for short-term interest rates. Furthermore, the Government may choose to issue these bills as a means to finance its recurrent expenditures when deemed necessary.
