By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Debt Management Office (DMO) will from today, Monday, March 13, 2017, begin the issuance of the first Federal Government’s Savings Bond to investors.
The debt office disclosed that the retail savings bond product will be accessible to all income groups for subscription at N5,000 per unit, with a maximum subscription of N50 million and a tenor ranging from two to three years.
The offer will be open for five days beginning from today and would exclusively be available on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
To enable a smooth exercise, the DMO has accredited 87 stockbroking firms of the NSE to handle the subscriptions.
According to the Director General of DMO, Dr Abraham Nwankwo, the reason behind this move is to democratize the bond market by making it easily accessible to most Nigerians.
Dr Nwankwo explained further that by promoting retail participation in the bond market, the goal of encouraging an all-inclusive participation in investments and driving financial inclusion in the country would be further enhanced.
It was further gathered that the retail bond would provide opportunity to all citizens, irrespective of income level, to contribute to national development, deepen the national savings culture; enable all citizens participate in and benefit from the favourable returns available in the capital market as well as diversify investment options for people and funding sources for the government.
The debut of this savings bond now puts Nigeria in the league of sovereigns like Sweden, Thailand, Slovenia, Indonesia, United States, and United Kingdom.
Already, capital market operators are excited about the product and believe it would give stimulus to the capital market particularly that has witnessed many retail investors depart since the downturn.
Before now, the bond market is predominantly available to high networth investors to the detriment of low income investors. With the entry level for the savings bond, even students can afford to play in the space.
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya