Yields seen up on Nigerian bonds next week

Investors are seen asking for higher yields on Nigerian bonds at an auction next week,  in tandem with prevailing returns at the secondary market.
    Nigeria plans to raise 95 billion naira ($476.31 million) in bonds with tenors ranging between 5-year and 20-year next week.
    Yields at the auction could range between 16.5 to 17 percent on the shorter tenor due to low appetite for local debt by investors, dealers said.  
    "We don't see banks going heavily on bonds at the auction because of liquidity, foreign exchange and political risk," one dealer said.
    Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and the continent's largest oil producer, is facing a faltering economy after global oil prices plunged, weakening its naira currency.
    Political uncertainty following a six-week delay in  presidential elections has worsened the outlook, sending its financial markets into a tailspin.  
    The election is due on March 28, and has kept some players from making new investments, dealers said.
    Yields on the 2016 debt closed lower at 16.16 percent against 16.42 percent last week, while the 2022 debt note inched up to 16.07 percent from 16 percent previously.
    The benchmark 2024 debt note also closed higher at 16.13 percent compared with 16.04 percent last week.