Debt Stock to Rise as DMO Eyes N600bn Q3 Bonds

Nigeria’s public debt stock is set for another increase as the Debt Man-agement Office (DMO) has an-nounced plans to raise up to N600 billion through federal government bond issuances in the third quarter of 2025. This move comes amid mounting concerns over the coun-try’s rising borrowing costs and the persistent depreciation of the naira. According to the latest issuance calendar released by the DMO, the government intends to offer bonds with maturities ranging from five to seven years, with each auction targeting between N40 billion and N60 billion per bond series. The auctions are scheduled for July, August, and September, and will feature the reopening of existing bonds such as the 19.30 per cent FGN APR 2029 and the 17.95 per cent FGN JAN 2032.

Analysts project that Nige-ria’s total public debt could reach N187.8 trillion by the end of 2025, up from N149.4 trillion reported in March 2025. The increase is largely attributed to the government’s ag-gressive domestic borrowing strate-gy, which includes regular bond is-suances and treasury bills, as well as the impact of naira depreciation on external debt.

For each of the three months in the quarter, the DMO will of-fer between N40 billion and N60 billion for each bond, translating to a monthly range of N80 billion to N120 billion. If fully subscribed at the upper limit, the total amount raised in the quarter will reach N600 billion.
The auctions will be held on July 22, August 19, and Septem-ber 16, 2025. All instruments to be offered are re-openings, which means they are additional tranch-es of bonds previously issued, al-lowing for better liquidity and yield curve development in the second-ary market.