MUSCAT: The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) announced the allocation of government treasury bills worth RO 43.1 million this week, divided across three maturity periods. Bills with a 28-day maturity were valued at RO 18.1 million, with an average acceptable price of RO 99.685 per RO 100 and a lowest acceptable price of RO 99.680.
The average discount rate stood at 4.11237%, while the average return reached 4.12539%. For the 91-day maturity period, the allocated value was RO 22 million, with an average acceptable price of RO 98.865 and a lowest acceptable price of the same amount. The average discount rate for this category was 4.55247%, while the average return was 4.60474%. Bills with a 182-day maturity were allocated RO 3 million, with both the average and lowest acceptable price at RO 97.720 per RO 100, an average discount rate of 4.57253%, and an average return of 4.67921%.
According to the CBO, the interest rate on repurchase operations (repo) for these bills is 5.25%, while the discount rate on treasury bill facilities is 5.75%. Treasury bills, issued by the Ministry of Finance, are a short-term secured financial instrument designed to provide investment opportunities for licensed commercial banks, with the CBO acting as the issuance manager.
These bills offer high liquidity, as they can be discounted with the CBO or used in repo transactions with the central bank or among banks in the interbank market. Moreover, treasury bills help establish short-term interest rate benchmarks for the local financial market and provide the government with a flexible financing mechanism for its expenditures. — ONA
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