Nigeria elections, excess crude savings ‘promising’ for rating -Fitch

Omoh Gabriel

LAGOS РNigeria’s presidential elections and an increase in oil savings are “promising” for the credit profile of the country according to Fitch Ratings.

“The credible elections are a real positive for Nigeria, their news about the excess crude account building up is encouraging,” Veronica Kalema, a London_based director in Fitch’s sovereign group, said in an interview.

“We would now need to see what the new government would do in implementing some reforms, which would shield the excess crude account from election cycles and would reform the sovereign_ wealth fund.”

Fitch lowered its outlook on Nigeria’s BB- rating to “negative” from “stable” on Oct. 22, due to concerns that the nation was making withdrawals from the excess crude account, a windfall saved when the price of crude goes above the benchmark used for the country’s budget, and foreign-currency reserves dropped.