Nigeria hopes to issue a $2.5 billion Eurobond by mid-November, the head of the country’s debt agency said on Thursday, the latest in a series of debt sales as it seeks to fund a record budget for 2017.
That 7.44 trillion-naira ($24.36 billion) budget is meant to fuel Nigeria’s growth after the economy pulled out of its first downturn in a quarter of a century in the second quarter of 2017.
The planned mid-November issue would complement the $1.5 billion raised in Eurobond sales in February and March.
Nigeria now has a treasury bill portfolio worth 3.7 trillion naira, Patience Oniha, the director-general of the Debt Management Office, also said at a conference in Lagos.
Nigeria’s 2017 budget is still being debated by policymakers, despite being signed into law in June.
On Tuesday, the upper house of parliament said it would invite the ministers of finance and the budget to speak on “inadequate releases” in the budget and “the need to expedite releases in order to stimulate the economy.” ($1 = 305.4500 naira)
