Business
FEC Approves Domestic Debt Refinancing Into Treasury Bills
The Federal Executive Coun-cil (FEC), has approved the refinancing of the country’s domestic debts into treasury bills worth three billion dollars as part of the overall strategy of government to reduce the cost of borrowing.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, gave the indication while addressing State House correspondents on the FEC meeting presided over by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
According to her, the approval was derived from a memo her ministry presented to FEC to enable the Federal Government to restructure its debt portfolio.
“The memo that I presented and was approved by council was part of our efforts to restructure our debt portfolio.
“We got approval in June that we would restructure our debt profile, we would borrow less in Naira and more in foreign currency because it is cheaper and also because we want to prevent crowding out the private sector.
“We want to create room for the private sector to be able to borrow so they can grow and create jobs.
“So as part of that, we sought approval and that was granted for us to refinance treasury bills.
“As treasury bills mature we will be refinancing them into dollars.
“Up to $3 billion worth of treasury bills will be refinanced into dollars.
“As the Naira treasury bills mature, we will be issuing dollar instruments.
“So we are not increasing our borrowings, we simply are restructuring instead of borrowing naira we are bearing dollars.’’
The minister noted that the measure had the advantage of reducing cost of borrowing.
She noted that the average right that the nation borrowed internationally did not exceed seven per cent, whereas in the treasury bills, it was between 13.6 per cent and 18.5 per cent.
Adeosun said the country was almost reducing by half the cost of borrowing which was trying to relieve the pressure on debt service.
She recalled the controversy that the debt service of the country was very high, adding that the refinancing was to relieve the debt service.
She also said that by the measure, government would be extending the maturity profile of the debt.
According to her, the country’s treasury bills mature in maximum of 364 days while the borrowing will be taken out to up to three years.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
