TheCable

Nigeria has raised N160bn ($525 million) in local currency bonds at its second debt auction this year.

The bonds were raised at yields lower than inflation rate.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) announced that it initially wanted to raise N110bn, but increased the offer due to demand, which was pegged at N337.03bn – a figure higher than N235.05bn demand at its previous sale.

The debt office said it raised N70bn of the paper maturing in 2036 at 16.77%, lower than 16.99% same instrument fetched at the previous auction, and paid 16.61% for the N30bn raised in the paper maturing in 2026.

It issued N60bn in the note maturing in 2021 at 16.55% against 16.89% at the previous auction.

On Wednesday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that the nation’s inflation rose to 18.72 percent from 18.55 percent.

The government says it expects the budget deficit to widen to 2.36 trillion naira this year, as it tries to spend its way of out of the recession.

A recent $1bn Eurobond auction issued by the federal government was oversubscribed by almost eight times.

The notes, which will mature on February 16, 2032, bore an interest rate of 7.875% with a bullet repayment of the principal.