The Federal Government raised ₦5.08 trillion from the domestic bond market in the first six months of 2026, representing a 77.8 per cent increase from the ₦2.86 trillion secured during the corresponding period of 2025.
An analysis of the Debt Management Office’s (DMO) auction results showed that the government raised an additional ₦2.22 trillion from bond investors between January and June 2026, as it intensified its domestic borrowing programme to meet its financing obligations.
Naijaonpoint understands that the increase came despite a moderation in the cost of borrowing, with average marginal rates falling below the levels recorded in the first half of 2025.
Investor appetite for Federal Government securities also remained strong, as total subscriptions exceeded ₦9tn during the six-month period.
The auction figures showed that the Federal Government allotted bonds worth ₦5.08 trillion between January and June 2026, compared with ₦2.86 trillion allotted within the same period of 2025.
The totals included competitive and non-competitive allotments disclosed in the DMO’s monthly auction results.
The government also significantly increased the value of bonds offered to investors during the period.
Between January and June 2026, the DMO offered bonds worth ₦4.95tn, compared with ₦1.85tn offered during the corresponding period of 2025.
This represented an increase of ₦3.10 trillion, or 167.6 per cent, and reflected the government’s more aggressive reliance on the domestic debt market.
Investors submitted subscriptions worth ₦9.04 trillion in the first half of 2026, up from ₦4.37tn in the same period of 2025.
This amounted to an increase of ₦4.67 trillion, or approximately 107 per cent, indicating sustained demand for Federal Government bonds.
However, demand weakened when measured against the significantly larger amount of securities offered by the government.
Subscriptions represented 236.1 per cent of the amount offered during the first half of 2025 but declined to 182.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2026.
This suggests that although investors committed substantially more funds to bond auctions, the rise in subscriptions did not keep pace with the rapid expansion in the government’s borrowing needs.
A further analysis of the auction results showed that investors submitted 2,823 bids across all Federal Government bond auctions conducted in the first six months of 2026.
This was an increase from the 1,621 bids submitted during the same period of 2025.
Successful bids also rose from 926 in the first half of 2025 to 1,449 in 2026.
However, the proportion of successful bids fell from 57.1 per cent in 2025 to 51.3 per cent in 2026, indicating that the DMO became more selective in accepting offers despite the increase in investor participation.
The Federal Government’s monthly borrowing profile varied significantly during the six-month review period.
January recorded the highest bond allotment, with ₦1.54tn allotted to competitive bidders.
Total allotments for the month rose to about ₦1.68tn after non-competitive allocations were included, compared with ₦601.04bn raised in January 2025.
June followed with total allotments of ₦1.22tn, significantly higher than the ₦100bn raised in the corresponding month of 2025.
The figure made June one of the strongest months for domestic bond issuance during the review period.
May also witnessed a sharp increase in borrowing, as the government allotted ₦614.51bn through competitive bids.
The total allotment for May rose to ₦894.51bn following the addition of a ₦280bn non-competitive allocation for the 16.2499 per cent FGN April 2037 bond.
