Nigeria will raise between $1.18billion and $1.48 bln from the sale of a 5 and 20-year sovereign bond in the third quarter of 2017, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The debt office on Wednesday said it will auction a N90-120 billion in five-year note and a N135-165 billion in 10 and 20-year debt between July and September. The issuing of bond is part of the government’s strategy to plug its budget deficit for the year.
Indeed, due to a plunge in the prices of oil from which Nigeria gets most of its revenues, the country slumped last year into its first recession in 25 years. As a result, a budget deficit of N2.36 trillion ($7.5billion) was forecast for this year. To bridge this deficit and bring the economy back on its feet, the government said it will rely mostly on the domestic debt market.