Publications
July 28, 2016
Portfolio Diversification Between Developed And Less Developed Economies
This study
examines the hedging effectiveness of portfolio investment diversification
between developed and developing economies; with focus on the Nigerian stock
asset vis–vis the stock assets of the United States (US) and United Kingdom
(UK). Its main contribution is in the analysis of optimal portfolio
diversification using optimal portfolio weight (OPW) and optimal hedging ratio
(OHR). Empirical findings show that the OPW and OHR are low, which indicates impressive
potential gains from combining Nigerian stock assets in an investment portfolio
with US and UK stock assets. In addition, exchange rate volatility is found to
pose stern limitation on the potential benefits of this portfolio
diversification arrangement. It is therefore recommended that the monetary
authority in Nigeria should pursue policies towards reducing exchange rate
volatility to the barest minimum. This will possibly attract more investors
from developed economies who might be willing to combine Nigerian stock in
their investment portfolio to minimize portfolio risk.
Related
Export Commodity Prices And Long-Run Growth Of Primary Commodities-Based African Economies
There
is a link between primary commodity export prices and economic performance.
Many African economies are primary commodities export biased, often in few
primary commodities. Previous studies focus on the impact of commodity prices
on growth in Africa with little attention paid to different primary commodities
and level of diversification in primary commodities export. This study,
investigates the effect of primary commodity prices on the long-run growth of 24
primary commodities-based African economies; by commodity types and level of
diversification in primary commodities exports.
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 42)
Recently
released survey report by the CBN shows an improvement in the availability of
secured and unsecured banks credit and loans to
households, corporate and small businesses in 2017Q3, and an optimistic outlook
in 2017Q4. Among other indices, availability of overall secured and
unsecured lending to households improved from -6.2 and -19.2 to -0.9 and -15.0
index points respectively; although still in the negative territory. Index for
availability of credit to small businesses improved from -20.1 to -6.7. Lenders
and respondents noted that anticipation of a brighter economic outlook,
favorable liquidity positions, market share objectives and higher appetite for
risk were major factors behind the increase.