Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has said the lack of foreign exchange should be blamed for low Foreign Portfolio investments in the country.
Lamido Yuguda, the Director General of SEC, disclosed this on Thursday, explaining that in-country Foreign Direct investment would remain low in Nigeria if nothing was done about the forex shortage.
In its recent data, the National Bureau of Statistics said foreign Portfolio Investment drastically dropped by 22.86 per cent from $3.385.59 million in 2021 to $2.444.24 million at the end of 2022.
Yuguda, speaking at the end of the First Quarter (2023) meeting of the Nigerian Capital Market Committee, said scarce forex in the nation is unattractive to foreign investors.
However, Yuduga is optimistic that with the coming onboard of the Dangote refinery, forex used for importing crude oil into the country would free up, thereby leading to a possible availability of forex.
“At the moment, we all know that there are challenges with the foreign exchange situation in Nigeria.
“International investors are reporting some delays in accessing foreign exchange for the repatriation of their dividends or their capital.
“Because of this, you are seeing a reduced proportion of foreign investors in the Nigerian capital market relative to what this market has been used to”, he stated.
