THE federal government has raised $2.86 billion Eurobond under its Global Medium Term Note Programme to fund the 2018 budget deficit.
The transaction was announced by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Paul Abechi, in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
According to him, the offer was oversubscribed by about $9.5 billion, a demonstration of a strong international investors’ appetite for the Nigerian instrument.
The statement read: “The offering has attracted significant interest from leading global institutional investors with a peak combined order book of over $9.5 billion, which reflects an over-subscription of more than thee times and demonstrates the on-going confidence of international capital market investors in external debt requirements for the 2018 budget at a cost considerably lower than many of its peers across Sub-Sahara Africa.
“The successful transaction follows closely behind Nigeria’s successful engagement with the Fitch rating agency, and their subsequent decision to change the outlook on Nigeria’s sovereign rating from B+ (negative) to B+ (stable), based on improving macro-economic fundamentals.
“The notes comprise a $1.18 billion 7-year series, $1 billion 12-year series and a $750 million 30-year series. The 7-year series will bear interest at a rate of 7.625 per cent, while the 12-year series will bear interest at a rate of 8.75 per cent, and the 30-year series will bear interest at a rate of 9.25 per cent. In each case, they will be repayable with a bullet repayment of the principal on maturity.
‘The offering is expected to close on or about November 21, 2018, subject to the satisfaction of various customary closing conditions.”
