By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Some unnamed banks have been shortlisted by the Debt Management Office (DMO) to manage the proposed plan by the Federal Government to sell $1 billion Eurobond before the end of 2016.
Reuters reports that a senior official, who begged for anonymity, however disclosed that the FG was yet to make a final decision on this.
“The names have been picked but it has to go through government process,” he told Reuters. “The issue will happen this year” though no bank has been appointed yet to arrange the issue.
But already, according to Reuters, the list has been sent to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), after which the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, will offer the names to the cabinet for approval.
The official said Mrs Adeosun met with Moody’s Investors Service on Friday to discuss Nigeria’s ratings before the bond sale.
Moody’s downgraded Nigeria’s sovereign rating to B1 from Ba3 in April, citing risks to government efforts to diversify revenues away from oil, its mainstay.
Citibank and Deutsche Bank managed previous issues by Nigeria in 2010 and 2013.
Nigeria has $500 million of commitments for the planned Eurobond and any decision to increase the size of the offer will depend on pricing, said Mrs Adeosun.
Adedapo Adesanya