(Reuters) - Nigeria expects to sell a Eurobond worth around US$1bn before the end of the year and is in the process of appointing managers for the sale, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Friday.
The Eurobond is part of Nigeria’s plans to borrow a total of N1.8trn (US$5.8bn) from abroad and at home to fund an expected budget deficit of N2.2trn this year.
“We are appointing parties this week, we are hoping to come before the end of the year,” Adeosun told Reuters at the sidelines of an investment conference at the London Stock Exchange. She gave no details.
“We have headroom and we are very fortunate in that regard, we have very low debt to GDP ratio,” she later told the conference.
Africa’s biggest economy has slipped into recession for the first time in 25 years, brought on by low oil prices that have cut government revenues and weakened the OPEC member’s currency. Crude oil sales make up 70% of national income.
The African Development Bank has said it will help Nigeria to overcome its recession. The lender’s board is expected to grant a US$1bn loan at a rate of around 1.2%, which Nigeria could use to help plug its deficit.
The finance minister said she hoped oil prices would stabalise around US$42 and US$50 per barrel. Oil edged higher on Friday, with Brent crude futures 12 cents higher at US$51.50.
Adeosun also said the government had spent N770bn on capital expenditures since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2016 budget in May.
Reporting by Karin Strohecker
