Nigerian govt’s December bond oversubscribed by N70bn – DMO

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bond Auction for December, which was valued at N60 billion, was N70 billion or 220 per cent oversubscribed, data obtained from the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Wednesday showed.

“DMO offered N60billion at the FGN Bond Auction of December 2020, which held on December 16. The offer was oversubscribed as total bids received were N134.056 billion, a subscription level of over 220%,” the debt office said.

President Muhammadu Buhari received the legislative nod to tap N850 billion ($2.2 billion) debt from local markets to fund government’s spending plan for this year in April after the novel coronavirus made the Eurobond markets difficult to access.

Read also: Why govt is borrowing so much –DMO

According to the DMO, the rates of 6.945% and 7% for the 15-year and 25-year FGN Bonds respectively, were higher than the 5% and 5.785% at the last auction in October.

“The rates reflect the level of interest rates in the market influenced in part by Monetary Policy Actions,” DMO stated.

The FGN bonds, which are issued by the DMO on behalf of the Nigerian government, are debt instruments offered by government to enable it fund fiscal deficits in a non-inflationary and sustainable way.

The Nigerian government is under an obligation to pay bondholders the principal and interest (tax free) as and when due.