Debt Management Office Raises N2bn Through Savings Bond

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The Debt Management Office yesterday disclosed that about N2.068 billion was raised from the first leg of the two year FGN Savings Bond for retail investors.

This is as the Central Bank of Nigeria sold 364 day Treasury Bills at 18.69 above February inflation rate for a second time to maintain positive yields to attract foreign investors.

Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped for the first time in 15 months to 17.788 per cent in February this year.

The apex bank said it raised a total of N134.96 billion from the Treasury Bills auction on Wednesday, having raised N83.16 billion with an auction of the 364 day bill, which it had sold at a yield of 18.55 percent at its previous auction on March 15.

Meanwhile, the DMO said the FGN Savings Bond which was on sale between March 13 and 17, 2017, was allotted to 2,575 subscribers, while the next sale is to hold between April 3 and 7, 2017.

The two-year bond was sold with a yield of 13.01 per cent. Nigeria forecasts a budget deficit of 2.36 trillion naira in 2017, half of which it aims to fund through domestic borrowing.

DMO has said it offered the bond to help broaden the country’s funding base. It will be available for purchase on a monthly basis and have a maximum subscription of 50 million naira.

It carries a coupon of 13.01 percent while the government plans to increase public spending by almost 20 percent this year and has obtained parliament’s approval for a $500 million Eurobond, after raising $1 billion from international debt market last month.