The DMO added that the Government of Nigeria was also looking forward to exploring other appropriate debt liability management options such as “bond- buy back” and “bond exchanges”.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has said that Nigeria has no plans to restructure its debt contrary to reports by US-based financial, software, data and media company, Bloomberg.
The media giant had reported that Nigeria was considering restructuring its debt and extending the repayment period of its credit obligations.
The report also quoted Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, as saying that Nigeria had appointed consultants to advise the government as it faced a rising debt-service burden.
But the DMO said in a statement on Thursday that the minister’s statement was taken out of context.
“Over the years, Nigeria’s Debt Management Strategy has always highlighted the need to utilise appropriate debt management tools to streamline the cost and risk profile in the debt portfolio,” the DMO said.
READ ALSO:
DMO blames NASS for helping raise Nigeria’s debt to N39.55tr
“Toward implementation of these strategies, Nigeria has typically availed itself of concessional loans, the spreading out of debt maturities to avoid bounching, and re-profiling of debt maturities by refinancing short-term debt using long-term debt instruments.
“All these, non of which constitute debt restructuring, are already being implemented.”
The DMO added that the Government of Nigeria was also looking forward to exploring other appropriate debt liability management options such as “bond- buy back” and “bond exchanges”.
“We want to assure local and international investors and creditors that Nigeria remains committed and will meet all its debt obligations, ” it said.