Nigeria Government To Float $2.5b Eurobond To Bridge 2017 Budget

Abuja – The Debt Management Office (DMO) said yesterday the Federal Government of Nigeria would float Eurobond to raise 2.5 billion dollars before December.
DMO Director-General Patience Oniha stated this at the 2017 Nigerian Debt Capital Markets Conference and Awards, organised by the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in Lagos.
She said the borrowing would enable the country to bridge the gap in the 2017 budget, which is facing liquidity problem, to finance capital projects.
Oniha said the proposed Eurobond issuance would complement the 1.5 billion dollars raised from the international market in March.
She said the nation’s Treasury Bills portfolio stood at N3.7 trillion, adding that DMO planned to refinance it with foreign borrowing to reduce pressure on the domestic market.
She said that Nigeria needed to build stronger and responsive institutions that could support infrastructure agenda of the government.
Oniha said government had proposed to channel new borrowings into the capital investments instead of consumption.
“The debt ratio is not tangible and adequate components of borrowing, because it is not going into funding others than capital investment.
“Let us channel new borrowings into capital investment instead of consumption,” Oniha said.
On the N100 billion Sukuk Bond, the director-general said that the Federal Government had identified 25 road projects to be funded with the proceeds.
She said that among the roads listed were Ore-Sagamu Road, Kaduna Bypass, Enugu- Port-Harcourt Road, Kano-Maiduguri and Benin-Lokoja Road, among others.
According to her, government has also decided to finance other trunk A roads which will provide the needed support to accelerate the nation’s developmental goals.
“We need to build the business in terms of products that meet specific needs of investors,” she said.
Oniha said that the acceptance of the offer was an indication of the viability of the instrument as an investment option, as well as a demonstration of utmost faith in the economy.
Investors in the offer, which closed on Sept. 22, with a seven-year tenor, included pension funds, banks, fund managers and retail investors.