The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, has announced that Nigeria successfully raised N7.043 trillion in domestic debt for the year 2023, exceeding its target and highlighting strong investor confidence in the Nigerian economy.
In an interview with CNBC Africa, Ms. Oniha attributed this success to several factors, including the depth and increasing liquidity of the domestic market, particularly among institutional investors such as banks, asset managers, pension funds, and insurance companies.
She pointed to the high subscription rates for FGN securities, including the recent 435% oversubscription of the N150 billion FGN Sukuk bond and the 300% oversubscription of the N90 billion 30-year FGN bond, as evidence of this strong demand.
This successful domestic borrowing comes amidst a significant increase in Nigeria’s overall public debt, which reached N87.38 trillion by the end of the second quarter of 2023. While domestic loans account for N54.13 trillion of this total, Ms Oniha expressed optimism about the government’s ability to manage this debt burden and maintain investor confidence.
She said, “Nigeria’s total public debt stock as of June 30, 2023, was N87.38 trillion ($113.42 billion). It comprises the total domestic and external debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the thirty-six states, and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The major addition to the Public Debt Stock was the inclusion of the N22.712 trillion securitised FGN’s Ways and Means Advances.”
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