By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that Federal Government intends to sell about $3 billion Eurobond to refinance treasury bills as they mature.
Addressing newsmen yesterday in Abuja, Mrs Adeosun noted that the sale will commence as soon at the parliament gives its approval.
According to her, the bonds will have three-year maturities.
“We will borrow less in Naira and more in foreign currency because it is cheaper and also because we want to prevent crowding out of the private sector,” Bloomberg quoted the Minister as saying.
“The average rate at which we borrow internationally doesn’t exceed 7 percent, whereas our Treasury bills, we are paying between 13.6 percent and 18.5 percent.
“So we are almost halving the cost of borrowing to try and relieve this pressure on debt service,” Mrs Adeosun added.
Nigeria is battling to leave recession after falling into it about a year ago.
It has also had to borrow to finance some critical projects in the country.
In February this year, the most populated African country issued $1 billion of Eurobonds and another $500 million in March.
Adedapo Adesanya