06 April 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Local and international financial market products and services update.
NIGERIA: In line with his commitment to comprehensive legal reforms, President Buhari has begun the process of reforming the nation’s electoral laws to bring them into conformity with best global electoral practises.
According to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami, who spoke on Tuesday in Abuja, President Buhari’s administration has started consultations with the leadership of the National Assembly and the judiciary to identify the electoral laws that need to be reformed.
“I have begun consultations with the leadership of the National Assembly and the judiciary to identify key laws and priority areas for reform. Our priority areas will be clearly outlined in our justice sector reform that we will propose to the National Assembly and align it with their agenda to achieve reform within the tenure of this administration,” he told participants at the Nigerian Civil Society Situations Room’s Stakeholders Forum on Elections in Abuja.
FIXED INCOME: Tone in T-bills still firm and yields tightened by 30bps yesterday. Bonds were better offered yesterday morning in reaction to the bond auction circular and calendar but by about midday the trend reversed as real money demand trickled in. Another successful OMO auction yesterday but participation remains lukewarm. N40.32bn of 205day paper was sold at 9.26% yield. With last week’s double-funding incident for the FX auction, it’s possible banks are cautious of investing all excess cash.
FX: The CBN weekly special auction result for last week was released yesterday. We expect the intervention for this week to hold on Thursday.
E.U: Dutch voters head to the polls on Wednesday to weigh in on a treaty that eases relations between the European Union and Ukraine, as a growing sense of EU-skepticism threatens to influence the outcome.
The non-binding referendum, the Netherlands’ first since the 2005 rejection of the EU constitution, specifically asks voters to approve a so-called association agreement from 2014 that focuses on facilitating the trade relationship between the 28-nation bloc and Ukraine. Whereas the EU’s other 27 states have waved the treaty through, some in the Netherlands oppose what they say is a precursor to Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
CHINA: The Chinese central bank’s appetite for trade-weighted weakness in the Yuan appears to be increasing, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., spurring warnings of increasing risks to emerging-market currencies.
A Bloomberg replica of the CFETS RMB Index, which tracks the Yuan against 13 exchange rates, fell to a 16-month low of 97.8 on Wednesday, prompting ANZ to comment on whether the People’s Bank of China has set a bottom for declines. The Yuan has dropped to a critical level that raises questions on the government’s stated policy of maintaining stability against the basket, Credit Suisse Group AG analysts wrote in a note Tuesday.
COMMODITIES: Oil extended gains for a second day after Kuwait had said a deal to freeze output can be reached without Iran and U.S. industry data showed crude stockpiles declined.
Futures rose as much as 2.9% in New York after climbing 0.5% Tuesday. Brent in London also gained. Major producers have no option but to reach an agreement to cap production when they meet April 17, and a freeze may set a price floor, said Nawal al-Fezaia, Kuwait’s governor to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Macro Economic Indicators
Inflation rate (Y-o-Y) for February 2016 11.38%
Monetary Policy Rate current 12.00%
FX Reserves (Bn $) as at April 04, 2016, 27.785
Money Market Highlights
NIBOR (%)
O/N 4.2500
30 Day 8.2420
90 Day 10.1127
180 Day 11.7162
LIBOR (%)
USD 1 Month 0.4402
USD 2 Months 0.5225
USD 3 Months 0.6301
USD 6 Months 0.9041
Benchmark Yields
Tenor Maturity Yield (%)
91d 30-June-16 7.73
182d 06-Oct-16 8.74
364d 16-Mar-17 10.32
2y 31-Aug-17 10.46
3y 30-May-18 10.53
5y 13-Feb-20 11.61
Indicative Currency Exchange Rates
Bid Offer
USDNGN 197.50 199.50
EURUSD 1.1244 1.1446
GBPUSD 1.4003 1.4205
USDJPY 110.35 110.38
USDCHF 0.95585 0.9660
GBPEUR 1.2330 1.2534
USDZAR 15.1101 15.3133
JPYNGN 179.8097 179.9103
CHFNGN 205.72 207.41
EURNGN 224.51 225.88