DMO TO RAISE N60BN IN BONDS

By NBF News

The Debt Management Office has said it would raise N60 billion from the local bond market next week Thursday with maturities of five to seven years.

The debt office said it would sell N30 billion  each in re-openings of existing five- and seven-year bonds, which will have terms to maturity of four years and six months, and six years and eight months, respectively.

The nation's local debt yields have fallen over the past month on news JP Morgan will include it in its Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) from October. The bank said this could potentially bring up to $1 billion into one of Africa's most developed debt markets. Yields on 10- and 20-year bonds have shed 300 basis points over the past month, while bond dealers believe that the yield would continue to fall as investors take positions ahead of expected liquidity from offshore investors when the bonds join the index.

Nigeria, Africa's second-biggest economy after South Africa, issues sovereign bonds monthly to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.