Weekly Economic & Market Commentary
Last week in Nigeria, the DMO conducted its NTB auction for March, which was oversubscribed due to strong demand. Foreign trade decreased in Q4’22 due to a decline in import trade, but increased by 31.8% YoY. Nigeria’s composite PMI sank to 44.7 in February, ending a 32-month expansion sequence, largely due to cash shortage and fuel shortages. The Nigerian equities market closed bullish, while the naira appreciating in the parallel market. In the US, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, and the latest job numbers showed that US employers hired more workers than expected in February. The FED will consider these circumstances in their upcoming meeting on whether to hold or raise interest rates.