Nigeria Wastes Oil Rally as Policy Muddle Deters Investors
Bloomberg 3/10/2021 Tope Alake
(Bloomberg) Nigeria isn’t making it easier for foreign investors to buy into its high-yielding assets.
A series of policy missteps in recent weeks highlighted some of the uncertainties investors face, and raised concerns that Africa’s biggest economy is missing an opportunity created by rising oil prices to attract much-needed foreign currency.
First, the country allowed fuel subsidies that have been a drain on state coffers in the past to creep back by allowing pump prices to stay low as the price of crude rose. Then the central bank devalued the naira, without providing any guidance on its currency-policy goals. And last week, the monetary authority u-turned on a decision to bar foreigners from investing in its short-term bills, leaving them wondering whether it’s worth the risk of putting money into an economy from which it’s notoriously difficult to extract
Nigeria Wastes Oil Rally as Policy Muddle Deters Investors
Bloomberg 3/10/2021 Tope Alake
(Bloomberg) Nigeria isn’t making it easier for foreign investors to buy into its high-yielding assets.
A series of policy missteps in recent weeks highlighted some of the uncertainties investors face, and raised concerns that Africa’s biggest economy is missing an opportunity created by rising oil prices to attract much-needed foreign currency.
First, the country allowed fuel subsidies that have been a drain on state coffers in the past to creep back by allowing pump prices to stay low as the price of crude rose. Then the central bank devalued the naira, without providing any guidance on its currency-policy goals. And last week, the monetary authority u-turned on a decision to bar foreigners from investing in its short-term bills, leaving them wondering whether it’s worth the risk of putting money into an economy from which it’s notoriously difficult to extract