…Insists debt service on the U.S. dollar-denominated bond is N67.98 bn, not N611.71 bn
Repayment of principal for $500 million domestic Federal Government dollar bond series offered in August 2024 will be repaid in full at maturity in 2029, the Debt Management Office ( DMO) clarified on Wednesday, putting paid to misleading reports suggesting that the federal government could have paid a fraction of the principal.
In a statement posted on its website, DMO said the bond in question, “is to be repaid in full at maturity in 2029”.
Issued in August 2024 to mature in 2029, it carries a specific interest rate. Investors who bought the bond will receive interest payments twice a year until 2029, when they will receive their initial investment back.
It also dismissed reports claiming that the federal government spent N611.71 billion in March 2025 servicing its first-ever U.S. dollar-denominated bond issued in the domestic capital market.
It explained that the figure had been wrongly attributed, stressing that N611.71 billion represented the debt service for all outstanding Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds, excluding the U.S. dollar bond.
“The statement is wrong in its entirety,” the DMO said. “The figure published by the DMO on its website for Q1 2025 as debt service on the U.S. dollar-denominated bond was N67.988 billion and not N611.71 billion.”
DMO clarified further that its publications show the distinction between the two figures.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Q1 2025 Domestic Debt Service figure published on the DMO’s website for Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds in the month of March 2025 was N611.71 billion. In the same report and on a separate line, the debt service for the Domestic FGN U.S. Dollar Bond for March 2025 was N67.988 billion,” it stated.
Nigeria’s government raised $900 million in its first domestic sale of dollar-denominated bonds, almost double the targeted amount, as local investors clamoured for the high-yielding securities to hedge against currency devaluation.
The five-year notes had a coupon of 9.75%, compared with a yield of about 9.67% at the market open for similar-maturity Nigerian eurobonds.
The issue was 180% oversubscribed. Africa Finance Corp., which served as the global coordinator of the sale, reported at the end of the subscription
Nigeria issued the U.S.-currency bonds domestically to help bridge infrastructure-financing gaps, given that market conditions haven’t been favourable for a eurobond offer.
Nigeria’s total debt stood at N149.39 trillion as of March 31, 2025. The figure includes N78.76 trillion in domestic debt and N70.63 trillion in external debt.
