The Debt Management Office says
plans in the works to issue a 30-year naira bond which would be the first in
the country’s history.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday,
the DMO said the bond would attract long-term investors and extend the maturity
profile of the nation’s debt.
Zainab Ahmed, the minister of
finance, had disclosed the federal government’s plan to borrow a total of
N1.649 trillion to fund the deficit of the 2019 budget.
Ahmed had said the government
would opt for a 50:50 foreign and domestic lending pattern and consider cheap
concessionary loans to reduce cost.
According to Patience Oniha, DMO
director general, the bond would help develop the domestic capital market and
reducing the re-financing risk of the government.
“The funds raised would create
jobs and build infrastructure,” the DMO said.
“The debt would be raised via
federal government bonds, Islamic sukuk and green bonds to fund projects to
reduce carbon emissions.”
Data provided by the DMO as at
December 2018 showed that the total public debt was N24.39 trillion.
The national assembly has to
approve the borrowing plan before it can be executed.
At its meeting on Wednesday, the
federal executive council meeting approved the appointment of transaction
parties for the payment of N3.4 trillion.
According to Ahmed, the amount
would be used to settle pension liabilities, owed salaries and debt owed to
contractors.
The advisers appointed include
Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, some merchant banks and law
firms.
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