The Federal Government, through the Debt Management Office, DMO, has recorded a ₦26.92 billion or 30.5 percent short fall from its targeted proceeds of ₦115 billion bond auction, which was part of moves to finance the 2018 budget.
DMO disclosed this, yesterday, stating that the federal government has raised ₦88.08 billion at its bond auction which was held on Wednesday.
The debt office initially offered ₦115 billion worth of bonds to be bought but only ₦88.08 billion was allotted, though subscribers made bids worth ₦143.48 billion.
Recall that the 2018 budget is the largest so far, which was tagged Budget of Consolidation, aimed at consolidating previous years’ achievements and ensuring growth and stability as Nigeria recovers from a period of economic recession.
DMO said on its website that the bonds were auctioned in three tenors of five, seven and ten years.
This, it said, was to give its diverse investor base an opportunity to choose their preferred tenors.
The auction results posted on the website yesterday indicated that investors showed a strong preference for the 10-year re-opening bond with a total subscription of ₦102.08 billion compared to the N45 billion that was offered. This shows an over subscription of ₦57.08 billion or 126. 8 percent from what was offered. However at the end of auction, ₦55.29 billion was allotted.
The federal government bonds at the auction were allotted at 12.75 per cent for the five year, 13.53 per cent for the seven year and 13.98 per cent for the 10-year bond.
DMO added that out of the ₦35 billion offered for the five year bond, subscriptions to the value of N16.50 billion was received, while only ₦12.65 billion was allotted.
It also said that for the seven year paper, ₦24.90 billion subscriptions were received for the N35 billion on offer, however, ₦20.14 billion was allotted.
Of the three, only the 10 year paper had allotments beyond what was originally offered.
The federal government issues sovereign bonds monthly to support the local bond market create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.