By Bashir Olanrewaju
Nigeria’s Debt Management Office is offering 60 billion naira worth of bonds on Dec. 16, it’s last sale as the year draws to a close.
On offer are 30 billion naira of 15 year bonds, with an interest of 12.5 percent, and another 30 billion naira of 25 year bonds at an interest rate of 9.8 percent. Both are re-openings of previous issues of 2035 and 2045 bonds, according to a statement on the website of the DMO.
The sale will be units of 1,000 naira each, “subject to a minimum subscription of 50,000 naira and in multiples of 1,000 naira thereafter, ” the agency said.
Nigeria has experienced in recent years a dwindling of revenue from crude oil exports, the main source of government revenue. It has relied on borrowing, through the sale of bonds and treasury bills to fill the spending gap.
For this year, President Muhammadu Buhari’s government had projected borrowing 5.4 trillion naira, mostly in the form of bonds and loans from multilateral agencies.
Against 2021, the government proposed spending of 13.1 trillion naira to lawnakers, out of which 4.28 trillion naira would be borrowed to fund the deficit.