30 January 2017, Sweetcrude, Houston — The local and international financial market products and services update.
NIGERIA: About a week after the Federal Government announced the release of N72bn as its counterpart fund for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line, the Export-Import Bank of China has approved $1.275bn (about N408bn) loan for the project on behalf of the Chinese government. While Nigeria is to bear 15 % of the cost of the project, China will shoulder 85 % for the first phase fast rail that will eventually terminate in Kano. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, had last Monday said the Federal Government decided to release the N72bn as its counterpart funds in full was to ensure that there would be no delay in the implementation of the project. The contract was awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation last year by the Federal Government and both parties had signed an agreement to that effect.
FX: Naira was reported almost unchanged in last week’s parallel market within the range of $/NGN 493.00 – 498.00 as the FX shortages continue.
FIXED INCOME: Sellers on the bond curve with the exception of Jul 2021s. Activity was just based on profit taking and not a reaction to Thursday’s Nigeria Fitch review. Money market long N254bn and is the reason behind the demand seen in bills. We expect a soft start to the week in bonds. O/N rate closed at 5%.
US: President Donald Trump has decided to allow green card holders from the Muslim countries targeted in his extreme vetting programme to enter the US, in the first reversal since he revealed his controversial immigration policy on Friday. After a weekend of chaos that saw US permanent residents and refugees from some Muslim nations detained at US airports, John Kelly, the homeland security secretary, issued a statement that green card holders would be allowed back into the country. While most of the controversial measures in the executive order remain in place, the reversal on the issue of green cards comes after legal experts expressed shock that Mr Trump would attempt to refuse entry to permanent lawful residents of the country.
UK: The government will not withdraw its invitation for Donald Trump to visit the UK, despite calls from opposition politicians and a petition signed by more than 900,000 people. UK prime minister Theresa May invited Mr Trump to pay a formal state visit to the UK later this year during her trip to the US last week. However, Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday that the US president “should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values”, in response to Mr Trump’s order to clamp down on people entering the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Scottish National party leader Nicola Sturgeon also said a visit “would be wrong” while the ban is in place.
COMMODITIES: Oil prices extended declines on Monday, dragged down by signs of growing production in the United States that could partly offset output cuts by OPEC and other producers. Uncertainty over the outlook for U.S policy also broadly weighed on financial markets after President Donald Trump introduced immigration curbs that sparked criticism at home and abroad. But oil trading was quiet with several Asian countries, including China, on holiday for the Lunar New Year. London Brent crude for March delivery had dropped 28 cents to $55.24 a barrel by 0657 GMT, after settling down 72 cents on Friday. NYMEX crude for March delivery was down 23 cents at $52.90 a barrel.
Macro Economic Indicators
Inflation rate (Y-o-Y) for December 2016, 18.55%
Monetary Policy Rate current 14.00%
FX Reserves (Bn $) as at Jan 24, 2017, 27,888
Money Market Highlights
NIBOR (%)
O/N 5.5000
30 Day 17.8561
90 Day 19.4965
180 Day 23.1412
LIBOR (%)
USD 1 Month 0.77833
USD 2 Months 0.84222
USD 3 Months 1.03900
USD 6 Months 1.35878
USD 12 Months 1.72122
Benchmark Yields
Tenor Maturity Yield (%)
91d 27-Apr-17 14.20
182d 27-Jul-17 19.41
364d 21-Dec-17 21.68
2y 29-Jun-19 16.18
3y 13-Feb-20 16.37
5y 27-Jan-22 16.13
Indicative Currency Exchange Rates
Bid Offer
USDNGN 314.50 315.00
EURUSD 1.0615 1.0817
GBPUSD 1.2464 1.2666
USDJPY 114.65 114.68
USDCHF 0.99275 1.0029
GBPEUR 1.1623 1.1827
USDZAR 13.4312 13.6346
JPYNGN 2.6997 2.8003
CHFNGN 314.93 316.62
EURNGN 338.92 340.28
GBPNGN 404.78 406.18