Harsh economy chases 51 foreign investors from equities, bond markets

Fifty one foreign investors repatriated profits from their investments in equities and Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds last week.

The investors considered Nigeria foreign exchange policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) especially its refusal to devalue the naira unfavourable to their investments and pushed the transactions through Stanbic IBTC Bank, published data on fore disbursement for last week showed.

The major part of the $15.91 million forex were disbursed by the lender to investors divesting from the country, local businesses importing petroleum products, payment of school fees abroad and settlement of Personal Travel Allowances (PTAs) and Business Travel Allowances (BTAs).

Details of the transactions showed that foreign investors took $6.8 million of the disbursed cash, with StanbicIBTC Bank disbursing $100,000 to 32 investors divesting from equities market.

General sentiments in the equities market were bearish while average yield across benchmark bonds closed at 11.6 per cent at the end of the first trading session of the week, rising five basis points from the last trading session of the previous week.

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Though the spread between the official and parallel forex market remains, the volatility recorded in rates earlier in the year has subdued.

The official naira rate at the CBN remained at N197 to dollar whilst naira/dollar rates at the interbank stayed at N199 to dollar.

The naira/dollar rate was stable at the Bureau -De-Change as it exchanged at N320 to dollar on all trading days of last week.

The parallel market also remained stable as the local currency exchanged atN323 to dollar on all trading day of the week except Monday when it appreciated by N1.00 to N322 to dollar. Current Gross foreign reserves level was at $27.47 billions as at Thursday, April 14, down about $70 million from last Monday’s reserve level.

For the CBN, the ongoing weekly publications on forex utilisation were meant to promote transparency and accountability on the side of the lenders which act as a link between the regulator and the forex users.

 

 

 

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