LAGOS, June 23 – Nigeria will lift a requirement that foreign investors hold government debt for at least one year on July 1 in a bid to attract new investment and help stabilise the currency, the central bank said on Thursday.
Nigeria’s interbank foreign exchange market depends on foreign inflows and month-end dollar sales by energy firms for its dollar supply, and greater offshore investment in the government debt market could support the naira. The one-year holding requirement has been a disincentive to foreigners looking to buy government debt in sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy because it limited their ability to exit their naira exposures.
Source: Reuters Africa newsletter
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