Nigeria Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said a lot of foreign portfolio investors interested in coming back to the Nigerian currency market.
Cardoso revealed this when he had an interview on Arise TV, to address concerns about recent increase in the currency market.
He said Foreign Portfolio Investors want the country to carry out policy reforms to enable them bring in their funds.
Punch reported that while he Spoke on the interest of FPIs, Cardoso said, “Some people look at foreign portfolio investors and say, ‘Oh, it’s hot money and all that.”
For confirmation, it quoted him as saying “I don’t believe that is the case.”
“I take it that in any portfolio you have, whether it be a sovereign or a corporate, you will have a diversified mix of investors.”
Accordingly, “we have a situation where a lot of foreign portfolio investors are interested in coming back to the Nigerian currency market.”
For instance, “if there is any group that has taken an interest, methodically, they have not run over the door to get in, but they have taken a methodical interest in understanding the reforms that are taking place and how it is taking the country to a direction they believe is the right one, it is the foreign portfolio investors,” he added.
The apex bank boss said that the reports of the rating agencies about Nigeria confirmed the leanings of the FPIs.
Moreover, “when they come, you think they may not come back, then they come back a second time, they come back a third time and then they see some of the rating agencies coming out with their own conclusions of how they see the economy of the country progressing.”
In the other hand, he said It validates their thinking when they do additional reforms; it continues to encourage them. “That is how I see investors playing today.”
Meanwhile, “Gone are the days when you can shut yourself out. The thing is to have it as part of the mix of the different inflows,” he said.
Therefore, “I think the recent move to have NNPCL and other MDAs move their funding straight to the central bank also sends a power message.”
In addition, he said “It boosts the confidence that finally, Nigeria is going in a direction that many investors would love to see it go.”
Meanwhile, the latest report on capital importation from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that in Q3 2023, capital importation into Nigeria stood at $654.65m, lower than $1.16bn recorded in Q3 2022,indicating a decline of 43.55 per cent.
Whereas, Truth Live News gathered that In comparison to the preceding quarter, capital importation fell by 36.45 per cent from $1.030bn in Q2 2023.
While other investments ranked top, accounting for 77.56 per cent ($507.77m) of total capital importation in Q3 2023, portfolio investment was 13.31 per cent ($87.11m) and foreign direct investment brought in 9.13 per cent ($59.77m).
