$500m domestic bond: IMF warned Nigeria against issuance, but it’s 100% oversubscribed, says Finance Minister

On 15 August, the Federal Government launched a $500 million domestic bond, which commenced subscription five days later at $1,000 per unit to interested investors.

A month later, Edun said that over $900 million had been raised from its first-ever domestic dollar-denominated bond issuance.

He also said the bond saw an over 180 per cent subscription.

According to him, the successful capital raise shows the continued confidence of investors in Nigeria’s economic stability and growth prospects.

During an investors’ meeting in Washington DC, the United States, on Wednesday, the minister said that the domestic dollar-denominated bond was over 100 percent subscribed.

“The IMF said to us that we shouldn’t do domestic issues of dollar bonds. We did it and we were 100% oversubscribed, but we still value their viewpoint and took it into account”, he said.

Edun also said the IMF plays a significant role in providing funding and technical assistance.

However, the minister said all advice, information and data that “these institutions are able to provide is of value, but we don’t always have to take their advice”.

Credit: TheCable