Nigeria to auction 140bn naira bonds on May 10, debt office says

LAGOS: Nigeria plans to auction 140 billion naira ($446 mln) in bonds on May 10, the Debt Management Office said on Wednesday.

The debt office will sell 40 billion naira of bonds due in 2021 and 50 billion naira each of bonds due in 2027 and in 2037, using a Dutch auction system.

Settlement is expected the day after the sale. The bonds are re-openings of previous issues.

Nigeria, which has Africa's biggest economy, issues sovereign bonds monthly to help fund its budget deficit, support the local debt market and maintain a benchmark for companies to follow.

At its last auction, it sold fewer bonds than it had planned after investors demanded higher yields to compensate for inflation.

Nigeria expects a 2.36 trillion naira budget deficit this year, half of which it hopes to fund through local borrowing.