Uche Usim, Abuja
Following media reports insinuating that the Federal Government has no plans to issue Eurobonds as part of its external borrowing in 2019, the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Wednesday clarified that there was no such foreclosure.
According to a statement from
DMO, the misrepresentation appears to have arisen during the Islamic Finance News Nigeria forum which held in Lagos on June 18, 2019, where the Director-General responded to a question on whether the Federal Government will issue a US dollar denominated Sukuk in 2019 which she stated was unlikely given the processes involved in the Sukuk issuance.
“For the records, the 2019 Appropriation Act provides for New External Borrowing of N824.82 billion (equivalent of USD2.7 billion at USD/N305). Consistent with the Debt Management Strategy of reducing debt service cost, the plan for raising the New External Borrowing is to first access cheaper funding from Multilateral and Bilateral lenders as may be available. “Thereafter, any balance will be raised from Commercial sources which may include Securities Issuance such as Eurobonds in the International Capital Market.
“The DMO wishes to reiterate that it will continue to focus on its objective of reducing debt service costs by emphasising borrowing from concessional sources while considering Eurobonds and other commercial sources as secondary options”, the statement read.