Projecting on the direction of the economy in the second half, Osho stressed that the economic trajectory will be hinged on the ministerial appointments by President Bola Tinubu, as well as forthcoming monetary and fiscal policies.
“The sustainability of the fuel subsidy removal and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market will play pivotal roles in the second half of the year. Alongside this, the revision of the minimum wage from N30,000 to N200,000 to enable Nigerians to bear the brunt of the economic reforms emerges as a topic of interest,” he said.
For the financial markets, Osho opined that the positive performance would continue with increased participation from foreign portfolio investors. He said: “For the fixed-income markets, we expect bullish sentiments in the near term, due to the buoyant system liquidity. However, as the year progresses, cautionary sentiments may arise, as investors keenly observe foreign portfolio investors’ participation, with yields expected to trend upwards to attract Foreign Portfolio Investments.
“For the local stock market, we envision a continued upward trajectory in the benchmark All-Share Index, driven by investor anticipation of impressive financial performance from banks following the unification of foreign exchange rates.”All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.