MUSCAT: The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) said in a statement that the total government treasury bills allocated for this week amounted to RO 39.03 million.
The bank said that the value of treasury bills allocated for a maturity period of 91 days amounted to RO 10.03 million, with an average accepted price of RO 98.750, and the lowest accepted price reached RO 98.730 for every RO 100. The average discount rate was 5.01368%, and the average yield was 5.07714%.
Meanwhile, the value of the treasury bills allocated for a maturity period of 182 days amounted to RO 29 million, with an average accepted price of RO 97.446, and the lowest accepted price reached RO 97.440 for every RO 100. The average discount rate was 5.12127%, and the average yield was 5.25548%.
The statement indicated that the interest rate on repurchase operations (repo) with the Central Bank of Oman for these bills is 6.00%, while the discount rate with the central bank on treasury bill facilities is 6.50%.
Treasury bills are a short-term guaranteed financial instrument issued by the Ministry of Finance to provide investment outlets for licensed commercial banks, with the Central Bank of Oman acting as the issuance manager for these bills.
Treasury bills have the feature of quick liquidity through discounting with the Central Bank of Oman and through conducting repurchase agreements (repo) with the central bank as well.
Licenced commercial banks can also conduct repo operations among themselves on treasury bills in the interbank market. Additionally, this instrument helps create a benchmark for short-term interest rates in the local financial market, and the government can use it to finance some of its expenditures smoothly and flexibly. — ONA
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