Business
Stakeholders Differ On Sovereign Bonds In Bardays’ Index
Some financial experts have expressed divergent views on the likely effects of the inclusion of Nigeria’ sovereign bonds in the emerging markets index of Barclays Bank, London.
They expressed their views in separate interviews with The Tide source in Lagos, recently.
While some said the inclusion would boost activities in government securities, others advised the regulators to monitor the quality of capital inflow that would arise from the inclusion in the index.
An economist with Abel & Sell Ltd., Mr Henry Boyo, said that the government needed to strengthen its investment policies to monitor the quality of investment that were entering the country.
According to Boyo, investments Nigeria is searching for must be of certain quality and not funds that will come in and go out anytime.
“If the investments coming into Nigeria are speculative cash flows that can be off loaded at will, they will create problems for the economy,” Boyo said.
He said that if returns on government bonds were at double digit, they should be reviewed in line with others with single digit.
Boyo said that the spate of insecurity in the country should be addressed urgently to avoid panic decisions by investors.
The Managing Director of Investment One Financial Services Ltd, Mr Nicholas Nyamali, disagreed that the returns on the bonds should be single digit.
According to Nyamali, a double-digit yield environment will attract offshore investments into the bonds market.
He said that the inclusion was a vote of confidence in the economy.
“The inclusion is a strong reflection of the improvement in the domestic bonds market over the years and a vote of confidence in Nigeria’s economic fundamentals,” Nyamali said.