DMO raises N88.08bn at Oct. bond auction

The Debt Management Office (DMO), says  the Federal Government raised N88.08 billion at its bond auction on Wednesday, as part of moves to finance the 2018 budget. The DMO said on its website that the bonds were auctioned in three tenors of five, seven and 10 years. This, it said, was to give its diverse investor base an opportunity to choose their preferred tenors. The DMO initially offered N115 billion worth of shares to be bought but only N88.08 billion was allotted, though subscribers made bids worth N143.48 billion.

The auction results posted on the website on Thursday indicated that 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. The Federal Government bonds at the auction were allotted at 12.75 per cent for the five year, 13.53 per cent for the seven year and 13.98 per cent for the 10-year bond.

The DMO said that out of the N35 billion offered for the five year bond, subscriptions to the value of N16.50 billion was received, while only N12.65 billion was allotted. It also said that for the seven year paper, N24.90 billion subscriptions were received for the N35 billion on offer, however, N20.14 billion was allotted. Of the three, only the 10 year paper had allotments beyond what was originally offered. Nigeria issues sovereign bonds monthly to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.