FG to securitise NLNG dividends for $7bn cash

The Federal government has concluded plans to securitise about $7 billion of the country’s dividends from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

This is part of the government’s efforts to boost foreign currency liquidity in the economy and strengthen the embattled naira.

According to the Nigerian government, it expects to get $7 billion from a consortium led by Standard Chartered Bank from next week.

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This arrangement is being organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated, which is the shareholder of the NLNG. The move aligns with the recent disclosure by Wale Edun, the minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy that the country was expecting about $10 billion in inflows in the nearest term, which would help to clear the FX backlog and stabilise the naira.

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The naira closed at N1,300 to a dollar on the parallel market yesterday, higher than the N1,310 to a dollar which it closed with the previous day while on the official I&E FX Window, it closed at N837.49 to a dollar, weaker than the N801.10 to a dollar it closed the previous day.

President Bola Tinubu, while speaking at the Nigerian Economic Summit which was held in Abuja on Monday, assured Nigerians and investors that there was an ongoing plan to boost the country’s foreign exchange liquidity.

Tinubu acknowledged the challenges faced by the business community in the financial markets and assured them of additional FX liquidity to restore market confidence.