She said however, unlike in 1999, the bulk of approvals in 2000 involved the raising of fresh capital, including the budget bracket debt issues by Nigerian Breweries Plc and Delta State government. She said the council also approved a N500 million supplementary bond issue by Edo State government, following the over-subscription of its 1999 issue. Newswatch learnt that several other state governments approached the NSE to raise long term capital for developmental purposes. Okereke-Onyuike said the renewed state governments interest in the domestic capital market was part of the expected democracy dividend. She said the state governments were eager to supplement their statutory allocations with finance from the capital market in order to meet their campaign promises.
Revenue bonds are a convenient financing option which also subject governments to market discipline.
The response by state governments, Newswatch learnt, was prompted by a national workshop organised in July last year for governors and local government chairmen on how they could raise long term fund to execute their projects. The N5 billion Delta State Revenue Bond is a fallout of this immensely successful workshop. More state government bond issues are expected in 2001, said Okereke-Onyuike. She said some states were already considering owning stockbroking firms to advise them and manage their participation in the capital market. The hallmark of the year 2000 for NSE, according to Okereke-Onyuike was its advancement in automation.