Transactions on FMDQ OTC Exchange Rise to N130tn in 11 Months

Goddy Egene

Transactions in the fixed income and currency markets rose by 21.9 per cent to hit N14.85 trillion in November from N12.18 trillion in October. The increase in November has lifted the total value of transactions between January and November to N129.85 trillion. The market is operated by FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

However, the Treasury Bills (T.bills) segment remained the most active accounting for 37.8 per cent, followed by the activities in the foreign exchange (FX) market which accounted for 32.27 per cent. Money market (repurchase agreements [repos]/buy-backs & unsecured placements/takings) accounted for 24.54 per cent, while the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds recorded 5.35 per cent.

A further analysis of the performance in November showed that transactions in the FX market settled at $15.08 billion, an increase of 8.78 per cent when compared with the $13.86 billion recorded in October.

In the month under review, the Naira depreciated slightly in the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window closing at$/₦360.65 (from $/₦360.40 at the beginning of the month) whilst also trading at a discount to the parallel market which also depreciated in the month of November to $/₦364.00(from $/₦363.00 at the beginning of the month).

The CBN Official Spot rate experienced a slight depreciation, dropping₦0.15 to close at $/₦306.00 (from $/₦305.85at the beginning of the month).
Total value traded in the I&E FX Window settled at $4.51 billion for November, an increase of 4.88 per cent relative to the value recorded in October ($4.30 billion).

Total value traded at the Window since inception stands at $22.37bn
Turnover in the fixed Income market in the month under review settled at ₦6.41 trillion, a
20.39 per cent increase. Transactions in the T.bills market accounted for 87.60 per cent of the overall fixed Income market, from 85.10 the previous month.

Outstanding T.bills at the end of the month stood at ₦10.41 trillion, which is 5.46 per cent higher than the N9.87 trillion in October. On the other hand, FGN bonds outstanding value
Increased by 1.48 per cent to close at ₦7.53 trillion, from ₦7.42 trillion in October.
Trading intensity in the Fixed Income market for the month under review settled at 0.54and 0.11for T.bills and FGN bonds respectively, from 0.47 and 0.11respectively,

recorded the previous month. T.bills between the one (1) and three(3)months
maturity bucket became the most actively traded, accounting for a turnover of
₦1.33trillion in November.
Activities in the Secured Money Market (i.e. Repos/Buy-Backs) settled at ₦3.42trillion in November, 59.04 per cent (₦1.27trn) more than the value recorded in October.
Unsecured placements/takings closed the month at a turnover of ₦226.46 billion, a 14.38 per cent rise increase.