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Tag: Patience Oniha

  • Debt sustainability: We deploy tools, strategies on borrowing-DMO

    Debt sustainability: We deploy tools, strategies on borrowing-DMO

    The Debt Management Office (DMO), says it deploys certain economic tools and strategies in contracting loans for the Federal Government to ensure debt sustainability.

    The Director-General of DMO, Patience Oniha said this in an interview with newsmen on Friday in Abuja.

    Oniha spoke against the backdrop of a recent workshop for the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts and the House of Representatives Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management.

    According to her, DMO ensures that maturities of public debts are spread over a period of time to ensure sustainability.

    “Maturities in the public debt portfolio are well spread to avoid bunching of maturities and to ease payments of maturing obligations.

    “The domestic debt portfolio has securities with tenors ranging from 91 days to 30 years., while the external debt portfolio has securities ranging between five years to 30 years,’’ she said.

    According to Oniha, there is a wide range of financial instruments such as the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Savings Bond, Sovereign Sukuk, Green Bonds, a 30-year FGN Bond and a 25-year FGN bond available to investors.

    “These options have helped to widen the investor base and provide products to suit the needs of every investor,’’ she said.

    Oniha said that the DMO had started raising funds strictly for projects, adding that there was more control over such loans.

    She cited the bilateral loans, the Sukuk, through which a total of N615.557billion was raised between 2017 and 2021, and the Green bonds, which generated N25.59 billion between 2017 and 2019.

    “Bilateral loans are deployed to projects like rail and airports.

    “From the Sukuk loans of N615, 557 billion, N365, 557 billion was deployed for the construction of 71 roads and six bridges, constituting 1,881 kilometres.

    “Proceeds from the Green bonds were deployed to seven projects in various sectors, including renewable energy, agriculture, water, transport and afforestation,’’ she said.

    The Director-General said that the DMO was also deploying debt management tools of the World Bank and the international Monetary Fund (IMF) to enable debt sustainability.

    According to her, the tools include an annual Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) and Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) every four years.

    She said that the implementation of the MTDS 2020-2023 is expected to moderate the level of debt related risks like refinancing and exchange rate risk.

    Oniha said that it would further improve the structure of the public debt portfolio.

    According to her, Nigeria’s total public debt as percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at 23.06 per cent as at June 30.

    “It is within the 55 per cent threshold recommended by the IMF and the World Bank, as well as Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 per cent set in the MTDS 2020-2023,’’ she said.

    She said that exposure of the country’s total public debt portfolio to exchange rate risk remained moderate, as domestic debt constituted 60 per cent of total public debt.

    Oniha said that target ratio under the MTDS was 70:30, with the DMO expecting to achieve the target by the end of 2023.

    “The exposure to refinancing risk remains stable as a result of the strategy of issuance of long dated securities in the domestic and international markets,’’ she said.

  • Nigeria’s woes compound as public debt stock hits N42 trillion

    Nigeria’s woes compound as public debt stock hits N42 trillion

    The Debt Management Office (DMO) said Nigeria’s total public debt stock, which was N41.60 trillion (100.07 billion dollars) in March rose to N42.84 trillion (103.31 billion dollars) by June.

    According to a statement obtained from DMO’s website on Tuesday, the total debt represents the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 State Governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    It, however, said that while the foreign component of the debt remained at the same level of N16.61 trillion (39.96 billion dollars), the local component increased to N26.23 trillion (63.24 billion dollars). The local component of the country’s borrowings was N24,98 trillion (60.1billion dollars) as of March 30.

    The DMO said that a larger percentage of the external debts were concessional and semi-concessional loans.

    “Over 58 per cent of the external debt stock are concessional and semi-concessional loans.

    “They were obtained from multilateral lenders such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Afrexim and African Development Bank, and bilateral lenders including Germany, China, Japan, India and France.

    “The total domestic debt stock increased from N24,98 trillion (60.1billion dollars) in March to N26.23 trillion (63.24 billion dollars) in June.

    “This is due to new borrowings by the FGN to part-finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation (Repeal and Enactment) Act, as well as new borrowings by state governments and the FCT,” the DMO said.

    It said that the total public Debt-to-GDP ratio remained within limits, at 23.06 per cent, while Debt-Service-to-Revenue was still high.

    It added that the federal government was committed to increasing revenue so as to reduce the amount that went into debt servicing.

    “The Debt-to-GDP as at June 30, was 23.06 per cent compared to the ratio of 23.27 as at March 30. It remains within Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 per cent.

    “While the Federal Government continues to implement revenue-generating initiatives in the non-oil sector and block leakages in the oil sector, Debt Service-to-Revenue ratio remains high,” it said.

    Meanwhile, the DMO is set to take its FGN Securities Awareness Programme to Yola on Wednesday and Umuahia on Sept. 29.

    According to Patience Oniha, DMO’s Director-General, the programme is designed to sensitise Nigerians on the huge investment benefits in FGN securities, thereby boosting financial inclusion.

  • Buhari retains Oniha as DG Debt Management Office

    President Muhammadu Buhari has retained the services of the current Director General (DG), Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha.

    The President gave the approval of the renewal her appointment on Thursday for a second term of 5 years in accordance with Section IV (9-i) of the Debt Management Office (Establishment ETC) Act, 2003.

    A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, stated that the renewal takes effect from Friday, July 1st, 2022.

    Buhari noted that Oniha’s reappointment was based on the significant achievements recorded by the DMO in the last 5 years, under her leadership.

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    It recorded that amongst the achievements are the introduction of Sukuk and Green Bonds to finance the development of infrastructure where there was a huge gap that needed to be filled.

    The statement partly reads, “Under her watch, as part of the initiatives to improve the sustainability of the public debt and opening up avenues for raising long term funds for corporates, the DMO introduced long term Bonds with tenors of 30 years in the domestic and international markets.”

    “This is aside from attracting diverse investors including retail investors to the FGN Bond Market. Internally, Oniha introduced reforms to strengthen the DMO, as a critical agency in the public finance ecosystem of the country,” the statement stated.

  • Nigeria’s public debt shoots to N39 trillion

    Nigeria’s public debt shoots to N39 trillion

    The Debt Management Office (DMO), says Nigeria’s public debt as at December, 2021 is N39.55 trillion.

    Patience Oniha, the Director-General of the DMO, said this on Thursday, while addressing newsmen on the country’s debt situation.

    Oniha said that the amount represented the total external and domestic debts of the Federal Government, 36 state governments as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Recall that DMO had earlier revealed that the country’s debt stock as at September 2021, was N38 trillion.

    She said that the increased public debt included new borrowings by both the Federal Government and state governments.

    “For the Federal Government, it would be recalled that the 2021 Appropriation and Supplementary Acts included total new borrowings of N5.48 trillion
    to part-finance the deficits.

    “Borrowing for this purpose, and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral creditors account for a significant portion of the increase in the debt stock, ” she said.

    Oniha said that the new borrowings were raised from diverse sources, which included issuance of Eurobonds, Sovereign Sukuk and Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds.

    “These Capital raisings were utilised to finance capital projects and support economic recovery,’’ she said.

    According to Oniha, the country’s debt situation is within reasonable limits.

    She, however, said that the Federal Government had taken concrete steps to address revenue challenges which made servicing of the debts burdensome.

    “With the total Public Debt-to-Gross Domestic Product ratio of 22.47 per cent, the debt ratio still remains within Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 per cent.

    “This ratio is prudent when compared to the 55 per cent limit advised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for countries in Nigeria’s peer group.

    “The Federal Government is mindful of the relatively high Debt-to-Revenue ratio and has initiated various measures.

    “The measures are to increase revenue through the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative and the introduction of Finance Acts since 2019,’’ she said.

  • Why there is increased borrowing since 2015 – FG

    Why there is increased borrowing since 2015 – FG

    The federal government has said the increased level of borrowing since 2015 was due to the collapse in revenues from crude oil.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Patience Oniha, Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria made this known on Wednesday.

    She stated that the level of new borrowing started trending downwards from 2018 up to the first 2020 Appropriation Act.

    “Unfortunately, the adverse impact of COVID-19 on revenues and increased spending, have resulted in higher levels of borrowing,” she said.

    Oniha explained that the public debt figures published by DMO are the debt stock of the federal government, the 36 states and the FCT.

    “I am compelled to respond to some recent comments about the level of Nigeria’s Public Debt.

    “Firstly, it is useful to state that the Public Debt figures published by @DMONigeria are the Debt Stock of the FGN, the 36 states and the FCT.

    “That is, the Debt is not only that of the FGN as the FGN, state governments and the FCT have all been borrowing.

    “At the Federal level, the increased level of borrowing since 2015 was due to the collapse in revenues from crude oil.

    “The level of New Borrowing started trending downwards from 2018 up to the first 2020 Appropriation Act.

    “Unfortunately, the adverse impact of COVID-19 on revenues and increased spending, have resulted in higher levels of borrowing.

    “While @DMONigeria, using the DSA and MTDS, manages the public debt to ensure that Nigeria’s public debt is sustainable and that borrowing is done at the lowest possible cost, growth in revenues remain a key focus of fiscal authorities,” Oniha stated.

  • FG floats N100bn 2nd tranche Sukuk bond in December

    FG floats N100bn 2nd tranche Sukuk bond in December

    Ms Patience Oniha, Director-General, the Debt Management Office (DMO), on Thursday expressed optimism that the second tranche of N100 billion sukuk bond would be floated before the end of 2018.
    Sukuk or Islamic Bond is a financial instrument structured to generate returns to ethical investors without infringing on the Islamic law, which forbids interest payments.
    Oniha told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview that the DMO had made significant progress to ensure successful issuance of the bond before year end.
    “June was when the budget was approved and Sukuk is a project that was also approved in the budget.
    “We will float it; we have made significant progress; we will issue it this year,’’ she said.
    The director-general said the second tranche would be specifically for infrastructure development just like the first one issued in September 2017.
    Oniha said that the DMO was working with the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing on the projects earmarked for the second tranche of the N100 billion Sukuk bond.
    She said that the successful outcome of the first tranche made the Federal Government do more to strengthen infrastructure development.
    She also expressed optimism that the second tranche would be oversubscribed, based on the feelers from investors and the public.
    “We still have auctions regularly, we issue FGN Bonds and they have been oversubscribed.
    “So, whether liquidity is tight or not, we have got good demands.
    “Don’t forget we are selling good products when we do Treasury Bills and FGN Bonds.
    “But in terms of sukuk, I think from the feelers we have got from investors and the public, it is a product the people want to associate with.’’
    She noted that people would be more enthusiastic about the Sukuk because it’s for infrastructure.
    The federal government in September 2017 issued a Seven-Year N100 billion maiden Sukuk (bond).
    The Sukuk was offered at N1,000/unit (minimum of N10,000 or 10 units) as a regular bond but represents an ownership interest in the asset to be financed rather than a debt obligation.
    Some of the roads funded by the bond include the Ibadan-Ilorin Road, Kolo-Otuoke-Bayelsa-Palm Road, Enugu-Port/Harcourt Road, Kaduna Eastern By-Pass, Kano-Maiduguri Road and Loko-Oweto Bridge over River Benue, among others.