Nigeria seeks to make Treasury bills easier to resell
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Businessday
Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Taiwo Oyedele, says the government is working with monetary authorities to improve the liquidity of Treasury bills and other naira-denominated securities. The measure is intended to make these investments easier to resell and support the functioning of financial markets, he said at an IMF and World Bank meeting in Bangkok.
Nigeria’s federal government wants to improve the liquidity of Treasury bills and other naira-denominated debt securities so investors can resell them more easily without taking on additional risk. Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele presented the initiative at an investor briefing on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Bangkok, Businessday reported.
The government is working with monetary authorities to improve price discovery on the secondary market, where already-issued securities are traded. This liquidity is important for banks, which hold government securities to manage their investments and cash needs, and can affect their ability to lend to businesses.
The issue has taken on greater importance following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s September decision to cut its benchmark rate by 3.5 percentage points, from 26.5% to 23%. The reduction is intended to support economic activity while inflation continues to fall, according to Businessday.
Summary produced with the help of artificial intelligence tools, under AFREEQUE’s editorial responsibility.
