DMO: N64bn raised from bonds for 2018 budget

The Debt Management Office says it has raised N64.04 billion towards the funding of the 2018 budget.

In a statement released on Thursday, the office said the money is the proceeds of the federal government’s bonds auction.

DMO said the bonds were oversubscribed as investors staked N142.81 billion on the issue.

“We conducted the third in the series of FGN Bond auctions for the year on March 21, to raise funds for the implementation of the 2018 budget,” the statement read.

“Bonds were offered in three tenors of five, seven and 10 years to meet the needs of the various investor categories. The auction was oversubscribed, just like the January and February auctions.

“Total subscription at the March auction was N142.81bn, representing 204 percent of the amount offered. The subscription rates for the five, seven and 10-year bonds were 189 percent, 84 percent and 329 percent, respectively, showing the preference of investors for the 10-year bond.”

The interest rates at which the bonds were offered are 13.4 percent for the five-year, 13.53 percent for the seven-year, and 13.6 percent for the 10-year bonds.

In 2017, the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, through the DMO, deployed a number of debt instruments like Eurobond, Sukuk, Green bonds and FGN Savings bond to raise money for budget funding.