Nigeria's bond yields rise, naira falls on Foreign Exchange curbs

 

The cost of borrowing for Nigeria rose on Monday and the naira currency weakened again in the wake of the central bank's new foreign exchange rules to conserve scarce reserves, traders said.


Investors had hoped for a sustained rally after smooth elections in March eased uncertainties about political risk in Africa's biggest economy. But worries over the government's finances and the continued slide in the naira have hit markets.

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The naira traded at 226 to the dollar on the parallel market, down 2.7 percent since Wednesday when the central bank introduced rules to stop importers from sourcing dollars on the interbank market to buy a range of items.

"The fact that the forex controls introduced by the central bank have contributed to a wider gap between the official and parallel exchange markets is not surprising and should add upward pressure on inflation moving forward," said Cobus de Hart at South Africa's NKC African Economics.
On the interbank market, the currency, which is pegged to the central bank's rate of 196.90, was at 198.90 naira.

The most liquid 5-year bond yield rose 12 basis points to 14.71 percent, up from 14.31 percent the day before the bank unveiled the currency rules but below 15.5 percent on the eve of the presidential election in March.

The 10-year benchmark yield rose 10 basis points to 14.25 percent on Monday, up from 13.75 percent before the central bank measures and below 15.38 percent on March 27.