The Debt Management Office on Thursday opened the offering of its Sukuk which will run till Wednesday September 20, 2017, even as the external reserves of the country hit $33 billion.
The debt office plans to raise N100 billion through the 7-year FGN Sovereign Ijarah Sukuk due 2024.
In the offer document, the DMO said the funds raised from the Sukuk would be used “solely for the construction and rehabilitation of key roads across the six geopolitical zones” of the country.
The seven year tenure Sukuk bond is being issued at 16.47 per cent paid half yearly with a minimum subscription of N10,000 and multiplies of N1000 thereafter.
It is being backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government.
Aside, this it also plans to raise between N120 billion and N150 billion through the Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds on Wednesday September 27, 2017.
The DMO in a revised bond issuance calendar for the third quarter of 2017 said it planned to raise between N30 billion and N40 billion through a reopening of the 14.5 per cent FGN Julyn2012 bond.
It also plans to raise between N45 billon and N55 billion from the re-openings of both the 16.2884 per cent FGN March 2027 and 16.2499 per cent FGN April 2037 bonds.
Meanwhile the Central Bank of Nigeria yesterday said the country’s external reserves of the country has hit $33 billion as at Wednesday.
Spokesman of the apex bank, Isaac Okoroafor, yesterday confirmed that the reserves hit the $33 billion mark which is a three year high.
Although the price of crude oil, the country’s major foreign exchange earner, has been hovering between $46 and $49 per barrel, an increased inflow of capital as well as a more liberalised foreign exchange market had eased up the pressure at the foreign exchange market.
This saw the value of the naira which had breached the N500 to the dollar mark at the parallel market earlier in the year ease to N365.
The naira yesterday closed at the parallel market at N370 to the dollar.
Besides, the foreign exchange inflow from the investors and exporters window launched early this year, the apex bank has been intervening regularly at the foreign exchange market, selling dollars to small businesses, to manufacturers as well as for personal and business travel allowance.
So far the CBN has injected $9.964 billion into the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market since it commenced its aggressive interventions in February this year.
Nigeria’s average import bill in the first five months of 2017 reached about N588.1 billion per month.
This is in contrast to what it was in 2005 when oil prices was about $50 per barrel for an extended period of time, and monthly average import bill was N12.4 billion.
