Central Bank of Oman issues treasury bills worth $36.m

The Central Bank of Oman acts as an issuance manager for these bills and uses them to provide ready liquidity to the market. (File)

RIYADH: The Central Bank of Oman allotted government treasury bills worth 14 million Omani rials ($36.41 million) on Tuesday. 
According to a statement, the amount was raised through two tranches of 10 million Omani rials and 4 million Omani rials. 
The tranche worth 10 million Omani rials had a maturity of 28 days, and its average expected price — the price at which the central bank accepts the bid — reached 99.645 Omani rials per 100 Omani rials. 
This tranche's average discount rate and the yield reached 4.62768 percent and 4.64417 percent, respectively. 
The statement said that the second tranche, worth 4 million Omani rials, had a maturity of 91 days, and its average expected price reached 89.755 Omani rials per 100 Omani rials. 
This tranche's average discount rate and the yield reached 4.99368 percent and 5.05664 percent, respectively. 
Treasury bills are a guaranteed short-term financial instrument issued by the Ministry of Finance, and they provide licensed commercial banks the opportunity to invest their surplus funds. 
The CBO acts as an issuance manager for these bills and uses them to provide ready liquidity to the market. 
Meanwhile, the central bank on May 4 raised the interest rate on repurchase operations — or repo — for local banks by 25 basis points to 5.75 percent. 
It followed a decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise its key policy rate by a similar percentage. 
It said the monetary policy target was to sustain and maintain its fixed exchange rate and is aligned with the structure and nature of the Omani economy. 
Such a policy move ensures the stability of the Omani rial, mitigates capital outflow, promotes certainty among investors and removes exchange rate risks.