The management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange has confessed that it is worried over the anticipated challenges that the bourse may experience in the first quarter of 2017.
The Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said, “We anticipate that secondary market activity will be challenged initially, as the impact of various policy measures work their way through the system.
“However, we expect to see a revival of supplementary listings, return of the new issuance market, and potentially one Initial Public Offer, since the equity market is a forward indicator of the economy.”
He disclosed that the global economic growth was projected to reach 3.4 per cent in 2017, adding that Goldman Sachs’ chief economist put the estimate at a range of between 3.0 and 3.5 per cent.
Onyema explained that there were specific factors that would determine the pace of global economic activity in the New Year, which include political developments in the West under the emerging ‘new world order’.
He stated that the monetary policy would continue to play a vital role in determining activity in the market. “With forecasts for inflation expected to moderate, due to the base effect, we believe that all things being equal, monetary authorities will have more flexibility with respect to interest rates and foreign exchange regime,” the NSE boss added.
However, data from the International Monetary Fund suggested that the global economic landscape, which shifted in the second half of 2016, would grow by 3.4 per cent in Q1 2017.
Economic Counsellor and Director, IMF’s Research Department, Mr. Maurice Obstfeld, explained that the developments since last summer indicated that the New Year would witness greater growth momentum across important economies.
“Our earlier projection that the world growth will pick up from last year’s lackluster pace in 2017 and 2018 therefore looks increasingly likely to be realised. At the same time, we see a wider dispersion of risks to this short-term forecast, with those risks still tilted to the downside,” he said.
