21 August 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The local and international financial markets, products and services update.
NIGERIA: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned home on Saturday from three months of medical leave in Britain where he received treatment for an unspecified ailment. Buhari’s leave, which began on May 7 and was his second this year, left many in Nigeria questioning whether he was well enough to run the country. The refusal of officials to disclose the nature of the ailment has led to speculation about the illness. Dressed in a dark kaftan and Muslim prayer hat, the 74-year-old Buhari walked unaided from his plane – holding rails on either side of him – after it landed at the international airport in the capital, Abuja. He was greeted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has acted as interim leader and was accorded a military salute.
FX: Week ended on a positive note for the local unit. If the NAFEX is anything to go by then we have seen a 1.18% appreciation of the local unit against USD [week-on-week]. This came on the back of the tightness in NGN in the Money Market front. I&E window printed 365.68 at the start of the last week and closed at 359.58, these are indicative of the traded levels in the market.
FIXED INCOME: Reversal of Thursday’s bullish run in bonds as auction draws nigh. N135bn will be offered at the bond auction on Wednesday. Local real money funds were still seen picking bonds in tiny clips but other than that it was a quiet day on Friday. Bill market was a mixed bag because naira refunds from the FX retail auction did not happen until late afternoon. N68.7bn was sold at the OMO auction.
U.K: The U.K. is piling pressure on the European Union to shift the focus of Brexit negotiations away from the terms of divorce and onto their future relationship.
Britain will publish a flurry of documents in the coming days laying out the government’s position on topics ranging from data protection to judicial cooperation. Five papers are due to be published in the week starting Monday, the Department for Exiting the European Union said in a statement on Sunday. The next round of negotiations is due to start on Aug. 29.
Before talks can move onto commerce, Prime Minister Theresa May needs to convince EU leaders at an October summit that enough progress has been made on residency rights, the U.K.’s exit bill and the border with Ireland.
CHINA: China expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with the U.S. decision to probe its intellectual-property practices and pledged to respond if needed.
The U.S. is irresponsible because it’s conducting the review under domestic laws and disregarding World Trade Organization rules, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Monday. The accusations against China aren’t objective and the probe sends the wrong signal as the countries are already making progress on separate negotiations, the ministry said, adding that the international community and U.S. industries will oppose the investigation.
COMMODITIES: Oil traded near the highest closing level in a week as OPEC member Libya halted its biggest oilfield and gas drilling by U.S. companies slowed the most since January.
Futures were little changed in New York after rising 3.7% the previous two sessions. Libya declared force majeure, a legal clause that allows the suspension of deliveries, on supplies from the Sharara field after it was blocked on Sunday, National Oil Corp.
Macro-Economic Indicators
Inflation rate (Y-o-Y) for June 2017 16.10%
Monetary Policy Rate current 14.00%
FX Reserves (Bn $) as at August 16, 2017, 31.551
Money Market Highlights
NIBOR (%)
O/N 13.0714
30 Day 19.4934
90 Day 21.2361
180 Day 23.4176
LIBOR (%)
USD 1 Month 1.23500
USD 2 Months 1.26389
USD 3 Months 1.31472
USD 6 Months 1.45639
USD 12 Months 1.72400
Benchmark Yields
Tenor Maturity Yield (%)
91d 16-Nov-17 18.10
182d 15-Feb-18 20.48
364d 02-Aug-18 22.17
2y 12-Jul-19 17.10
3y 12-Jul-20 16.51
5y 27-Jan-22 16.30
Indicative Currency Exchange Rates
Bid Offer
USDNGN 314.50 315.00
EURUSD 1.1643 1.1845
GBPUSD 1.2779 1.2981
USDJPY 109.10 109.14
GBPEUR 1.0866 1.1070
USDZAR 13.0697 13.2727
EURNGN 427.38 428.75
GBPNGN 468.79 470.18