DMO trims August FGN bond offer to N1.1 trillion after July bids hit N1.74 trillion

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has offered N1.1 trillion in FGN bonds for August 2026, down from N1.2 trillion in July when investors submitted bids worth N1.74 trillion. The auction is scheduled for August 17, with settlement on August 19, 2026.

The offer comprises three reopened bonds with 10-year, 15-year and 20-year maturities. The 15-year bond accounts for the largest share of the offer.

Offer breakdown

The 10-year 22.60% FGN January 2035 bond has an offer size of N250 billion. The 20-year 16.2499% FGN April 2037 bond has an offer size of N100 billion. The 15-year 15.45% FGN June 2038 bond has the largest offer size at N750 billion. Combined, the three instruments bring the total August offer to N1.1 trillion.

The bonds are being offered at N1,000 per unit, with a minimum subscription of N50.001 million and additional subscriptions in multiples of N1,000.

Strong July demand

The August offer follows a strong showing at the government’s July bond auction. In July, the Federal Government offered N1.2 trillion across the same three bond instruments but received total bids worth N1.74 trillion, indicating demand above the amount initially offered.

The DMO said investors submitted 556 bids valued at N1.74 trillion, of which 308 bids were accepted across the three bond tenors. The latest offer is therefore N100 billion lower than the amount offered in July, despite the strong demand recorded at the previous auction.

Market subscriptions jumped from N516.17 billion in May to N1.413 trillion in June, representing a month-on-month increase of N897.32 billion or 173.8%. Total allotments rose from N614.51 billion in May to N1.222 trillion in June, an increase of N607.39 billion or 98.8%. The amount offered also doubled from N600 billion in May to N1.2 trillion in June, reflecting the Federal Government’s increased domestic borrowing requirement.

What you should know

Interest on the FGN bonds is payable semi-annually, while redemption is through bullet repayment on the respective maturity dates. The securities qualify as investments for trustees under the Trustee Investment Act and as government securities under the Company Income Tax Act and Personal Income Tax Act for applicable tax exemptions.

The bonds are listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited and FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange and qualify as liquid assets for banks when calculating liquidity ratios. The FGN bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria and are charged upon the general assets of Nigeria.

For investors and businesses, the trimmed offer despite strong demand suggests the government is being more measured with domestic borrowing, even as it continues to rely heavily on the bond market to fund its fiscal needs.