FG to issue Eurobond worth $1bn before December

Nigeria expects to sell a Eurobond worth around $1 billion before the end of the year and is in the process of appointing managers for the sale, Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun said on Friday.

The Eurobond is part of Nigeria’s plans to borrow a total of 1.8 trillion naira ($5.8 billion) from abroad and at home to fund an expected budget deficit of 2.2 trillion naira this year. Reuters reported on Saturday.

“We are appointing parties this week, we are hoping to come before the end of the year,” Adeosun told Reuters at the sidelines of an investment conference at the London Stock Exchange. She gave no details.

“We have headroom and we are very fortunate in that regard, we have very low debt to GDP ratio,” she later told the conference.

Africa’s biggest economy has slipped into recession for the first time in 25 years, brought on by low oil prices that have cut government revenues and weakened the OPEC member’s currency. Crude oil sales make up 70 percent of national income.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it will help Nigeria to overcome its recession. The lender’s board is expected to grant a $1 billion loan at a rate of around 1.2 percent, which Nigeria could use to help plug its deficit.

The finance minister said she hoped oil prices would stabalise around $42 and $50 per barrel. Oil edged higher on Friday, with Brent crude futures 12 cents higher at $51.50.

Adeosun also said the government had spent 770 billion naira on capital expenditures since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2016 budget in May.