The Federal Government through the Debt Management Office (DMO) has redeemed a $500 million Eurobond on its due date on July 12, 2023.
The Eurobond was issued in July 2013 (as part of a dual-tranche USD1 billion Eurobond) for a tenor of ten (10) years at a coupon of 6.375% per annum.
“Nigeria had previously redeemed a USD500 million Eurobond in July 2018, another USD500 million Eurobond in January 2021, and a USD300 million Diaspora Bond in June 2022,” the DMO said.
“These, together with the USD500 million Eurobond redeemed today, bring the total amount of securities redeemed by Nigeria in the International Capital Market (ICM) to USD1.8 billion.
“Nigeria’s successful redemption of its Eurobonds and Diaspora Bond in the ICM over the past six (6) years is a demonstration of its strong debt management operations and planning.”
Recently, the Debt Management Office (DMO) issued a warning to the Federal Government (FG) against additional borrowing, citing that 73.5% of this year’s revenue will be used to service debt. According to the DMO, this high Debt Service-to-Revenue ratio is unsustainable and poses a threat to debt sustainability.
The DMO recommended that the FG focus on increasing revenue generation to achieve a sustainable Debt Service-to-Revenue ratio. It suggested raising the projected FGN revenue from N10.49 trillion to about N15.5 trillion. These recommendations were made after analyzing the nation’s debt profile in 2022.
