The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) raised OMR55mn by way of allotting treasury bills yesterday. The bills have a maturity period of 91 days, starting today until Nov.20 later this year.

While the average accepted price reached OMR 99.469 for every OMR100, the minimum accepted price was at 99.465 per OMR100. The average discount rate and the average yield were at 2.13129% and 2.14268%, respectively.

The interest rate on the repurchase facilities (Repo) with CBO is 2.669% for the period from Nov- 20- 26 while the discount rate on the Treasury Bills Discounting Facility with CBO is 3.419%, for the same period.

READ: Oman’s Banking & Finance Sector Outlook

Treasury bills are short-term financial instruments issued by the CBO on behalf of the government. They help commercial banks to invest their surplus funds and curb temporary liquidity shortfalls. The difference between the issue price and the redemption value points to the interested on the bills. It is called a discount.

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