Wale Edun: IMF warned Nigeria against $500m domestic bond issuance — but it got oversubscribed

Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the $500 million domestic bond was oversubscribed despite warnings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not to issue the bond.

Edun spoke on Wednesday during an investors’ meeting in Washington DC, the United States.

On August 15, the federal government launched the dollar-denominated domestic bond.

The $500 million bond commenced subscription at $1,000 per unit to interested investors on August 20.

One month later, Edun said over $900 million was raised from its first-ever domestic dollar-denominated bond issuance.

He also said the bond saw an over 180 percent subscription.

According to Edun, the successful capital raise shows the continued confidence of investors in Nigeria’s economic stability and growth prospects.

Speaking to investors on Wednesday, the minister said the domestic dollar-denominated bond was over 100 percent subscribed.

“The IMF said to us that we shouldn’t do domestic issues of dollar bonds. We did it and we were 100% oversubscribed, but we still value their viewpoint and took it into account,” he said.

Edun also said the IMF plays a significant role in providing funding and technical assistance.

However, the minister said all advice, information and data that “these institutions are able to provide is of value, but we don’t always have to take their advice”.