Foreign investors shun Nigerian bonds, equity market

isaac

July 7, 2015 4:59 PM

The falling value of the Naira has been attributed to the unwillingness of foreign investors to patronize the Nigerian bonds and equity market.

Naira notes

Due to the reluctance of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), to devalue the Naira as widely predicted, foreign investors have began to shun Nigeria’s bonds and equities market.

The investors have moved sharply in the past week in particular after the CBN announced further restrictions on dollar funding for investors, as well as for importers of goods ranging from toothpicks to private jets.

The move, meant to conserve foreign exchange, has dashed widely-held expectations of Naira devaluation, the central reform that investors had been banking on.

Since then, 10-year bond yields have jumped 1 percentage point to almost 15 percent, stocks have fallen and the Naira’s value is plunging in the parallel market, down about 7 percent from early - June levels.

A devaluation to restore the economy to competitiveness is a matter of time, fund managers still believe. In the meantime, they are unlikely to bring back cash they pulled out before the election.

isaac