LAGOS FEBRUARYGOS 10, 2017 – Nigeria has priced a $1 billion, 15-year Eurobond at 7.875 percent in an issue that is almost eight times subscribed, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
The government will seek to have the paper listed on the Nigerian FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange and the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it said in a statement.
The bond issue is aimed at helping finance a budget deficit exacerbated by lower oil prices and militant attacks in Nigeria’s crude-producing Niger Delta. The naira has also lost a third of its official value last year.
The government has laid out plans to spend a record 6.86 trillion naira ($22.5 billion) to help pull Nigeria out of recession in a draft 2017 budget sent to parliament for approval. It planned to spend 6.06 trillion naira last year, but struggled to fund it.
Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said the government had a “commitment to invest in developing Nigeria’s infrastructure through a target 30 percent annual budget commitment to capital expenditure.”
The government has set out a $30 billion overseas borrowing plan to finance infrastructure until 2018, but analysts are sceptical on whether it would be able to raise the funds.
