DMO to redeem N198bn treasury bills with Eurobond proceeds

The Debt Management Office (DMO) says it will redeem treasury bills worth N198 billion maturing on December 14 and 21.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the office said it will not roll over the treasury bills.

Of the N198 billion, N131.415 billion will mature on December 14 while N66.617 billion will mature on December 21.

“The NTBs will be redeemed primarily using proceeds of the USD500 million raised through a Eurobond issuance by Nigeria in November 2017,” a statement by the office read.

Nigeria had issued its largest Eurobond of $3 billion in November 2017. $2.5 billion was said to be used to finance part of the 2017 budget and the balance of $500 million will be used to refinance domestic debts.

“It will be recalled that the government had announced plans to refinance some maturing domestic debt with external borrowing as part of its overall debt management strategy of reducing debt service costs.

“Other objectives of this strategy are to free up space in the domestic market for other borrowers and achieve a more sustainable debt portfolio mix of 60% domestic and 40% external.

“In addition, the redemption over time will help reduce the refinancing risk associated with short-term borrowings through NTBs with tenors of 91, 182 and 364 days.”

According to the statement, treasury bills accounted for 30.23 percent of Nigeria’s domestic debt, which stood at N12.5 trillion, as at September 30.