FG set to issue $600m Eurobonds

Against the backdrop of controversies surrounding
the current state of the nation's economy, the
Federal Government is making arrangement to issue
a second batch of Eurobonds of at least $600 million
next year.
The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and
Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who
disclosed this to a foreign news agency, Reuters in
London, on Tuesday, noted that the bonds could be
open to Nigerians in the diaspora.
She was optimistic that the bond would be a success
following interest shown by investors in the non-deal
road show with investors in February.
"We will have a larger bond issue but we may decide
that a portion of that should be directed to the
diaspora. We have to watch what is happening with
the global markets. We want to make sure that we
float this at a time when it will be successful," she
said.
It will be recalled that the government issued a debut
$500 million Eurobonds in January last year, which
were 2.5 times oversubscribed.
The minister also disclosed that the government
would announce in August the management team for
its Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), which it expects to
launch by the end of this year.
According to her, the members of the SWF board had
been chosen and would be announced in August
once due diligence had been carried out.
"By September/October, we should be getting the
team in place and we should be able to launch by the
end of the year. We are in the last stage of due
diligence," she stated.