Nigeria’s bond fetches $288.8m

The Nigerian Government raised N88.08 billion (about $288.786m) at the bond auction to finance the 2018 budget, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has said.
The DMO said on its website that the bonds were auctioned on Wednesday in three tenors of five, seven and 10 years.
It explained that N115 billion worth of shares was initially offered to be bought but only N88.08 billion was allotted, though subscribers made bids worth N143.48 billion.
According to the auction results, investors showed a strong preference for the 10-year re-opening bond with a total subscription of N102.08 billion compared to the N45 billion that was offered.
However, N55.29 billion was allotted.
It added that the Federal Government bonds at the auction were allotted at 12.75 percent for the five year, 13.53 percent for the seven year and 13.98 percent for the 10-year bond.
Local media reports quoted the DMO as saying that out of the N35 billion offered for the five year bond, subscriptions to the value of N16.50 billion were received, while only N12.65 billion was allotted.
For the seven year paper, N24.90 billion subscriptions were received for the N35 billion on offer, however, N20.14 billion was allotted.
It noted that of the three tenors, only the 10 year paper had allotments beyond what was originally offered.
The Nigerian government, through the DMO, resorts to the issuance of sovereign bonds monthly to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit. ($1=N305)