23 December 2011, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Local and international financial market update
· The Federal Reserve provided $ 9.89 billion of liquidity to foreign central banks in the latest week via its U.S dollar swap lines. The Federal reserve has established swap arrangements with the Bank of Canada, Bank of England, European Central bank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan in an effort to respond to strains in the short – term funding markets in Europe
· Euro Zone finance ministers agreed on Monday to give the International Monetary Fund 150 billion Euros in bilateral loans to help resolve its debt crisis aided by Sweden, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic but Britain needed more time.
· The euro hit a global session high against the dollar as a 3-1/2 year low in claims for U.S unemployment benefits buoyed risk appetite
· ZAR: South African’s rand firmed against the dollar
Nigeria News
· FX: The Nigerian Naira further fell against the U.S dollar, to its weakest on the back of the closure of the central bank’s official foreign exchange window for the year, putting pressure on the interbank market.
Nigerian Interbank levels traded:
| Open | Close | High | Low |
| 163.60/70 | 165.20/30 | 165.45/55 | 163.60/70 |
· Bonds – Bearish across the curve as a whole as the market aims to position for the year end. Expectation is that market activity will continue to be muted over this festive season and in the run up to the New Year.
· Bills – Very quiet trading day with only a handful of trades going through.
· Money Market – OBB stable at 14.00% with unsecured rates down 50bps to 15.00%.
NIBOR(%) LIBOR(%)
O/N 14.3750 USD 1 month 0.29360
7 Day 15.1250 USD 2 month 0.42125
30 Day 16.1667 USD 3 month 0.57375
60 Day 16.3333 USD 6 month 0.80100
90 Day 16.8583 USD 12 month 1.12135
Y/Y Consumer Inflation Oct 2011: 10.50%
FX Reserves: 15 December 2011 (USD bn) 33.152
MPR 12.00%
Source: FMD and CBN
