Nigeria senate okays $500m eurobonds sale

NIGERIA’S upper house approved the issuance of a new $500 million (R6.3 billion) eurobond yesterday, the chamber’s deputy president said, to help fund the budget deficit at a time Africa’s biggest economy faces a shortage of hard currency. The government, which plans to increase public spending by almost 20 percent this year, sought the go-ahead for a new issue after raising $1bn from international debt markets last month. The increase in public spending comes after the Nigerian economy posted its first annual contraction in 25 years last year as a slump in global oil prices reduced government revenues and battered the naira currency. Nigeria struggled to finance its planned spending of 6.1 trillion naira (R247bn ) last year. – Reuters