- DMO to Service Foreign Loans With $483.4m
The Debt Management Office is planning to use $483.4m to service the country’s foreign loans over a 10-year period and make repayments starting from next year as the country’s dollar debts begin to mature.
According to the DMO annual report, the agency projects debt service repayments to amount to a total of $4.47bn to be made in 2018, 2021 and 2023.
The Federal Government issued a debut Eurobond in 2011 with a follow up tranche in 2013. Between February and March, the country issued $1.5bn due in 2032.
The DMO report said Nigeria’s debut $500m bond would mature in 2021, while a $1bn will be due next year.
The economy expects a budget deficit of N2.36tn this year as it tries to spend its way out of a recession. It expects to raise money to cover the gap from domestic and foreign sources.
The Federal Government must not borrow more to fund its budget and should instead raise any more money it needs by other means such as taxes, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has said.
Adeosun made the comments while speaking at a business forum in Abuja, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
“We cannot borrow anymore, we just have to generate funds domestically enough to fund our budget. Mobilise revenue to fund the necessary budget increase,” she said.
