Doesn’t it feel good to be a lender of money? Yes, especially if you know the borrower is creditworthy and would repay you with interest as at when due. There isn’t a better feeling than seeing a credit alert on your phone, especially so at a point in time when you are in need of cash.
The Federal Government of Nigeria (through the Central Bank of Nigeria and Debt Management Office) could always borrow money from you and repay you when the time is due.
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Why is that? There are several reasons;
- To control inflation by regulating the money supply (amount of money in circulation).
- To raise short term funds to balance periodic mismatches between government receipts and expenditures i.e. use of the borrowed funds in managing short-term liquidity needs.
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You may think the Nigerian Government is rich. Well, maybe it is; who knows?! However, sometimes the Government does not have a steady inflow of taxes or revenues with which it can fund its expenditures. So, something must be done about it. What do all these have to do with the CBN crediting your account? It has a lot to do with it because the Government often has to borrow money in order to attain the above objectives. It does this by issuing securities to the public soliciting for funds.
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Two ways you as a retail investor can get the CBN to credit your account is by purchasing the securities listed below;
FGN Savings Bond: The savings bond was introduced to enhance the savings culture among Nigerians irrespective of your income level whilst contributing to National development. There are tons of articles on this site explaining what the savings bond is all about and I wouldn’t dive into all of that, however, the fact is that you the bondholder will enjoy coupon/interest on a quarterly basis which will be paid directly into your bank account by the DMO. For example, if you subscribed to the latest 2 years FGN Savings Bond issue on the 15th of May 2019, you will receive your next coupon (interest) on 15th August 2019 and the next 15th Nov 2019, this will go on and on till 15th May 2021.
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So let’s assume you have N1million to invest for the 2-year savings bond at an interest rate of 12.745%, you will be credited with the sum of N32,124.28 by 15th August 2019.
How is this calculated?
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The difference between the last coupon date (16-May-2019) and the present coupon date (16-Aug-2019) is 92 days
No of days this year is 365
The coupon rate is 12.745%
Face Value is N1,000,000.00
Coupon cash value = 92/365*12.745%*1,000,000 which will equal N32,124.38
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Nigerian Treasury Bills: Treasury bills is a short-term borrowing instrument sold at a discount and redeemed at par. The Federal Government of Nigeria through the CBN issues T-bills to provide short-term funding for government budget deficit.
For example, if you purchase a N1,000,000 T-bill maturing 15-Feb-2020 with an interest rate of 10%, the CBN will debit your account with N900,000 and credit your account with N1,000,000 at maturity. Treasury bills are usually for 91, 182 and 364 days when newly issued, but the days to maturity can be different from these if you buy from the secondary market.
So what are you waiting for? Get the CBN to credit your account.