ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria will begin investing the initial $1 billion allocated to a new sovereign wealth fund by March, a finance ministry statement showed on Thursday, pushing back the launch previously proposed for this year.
Africa's biggest oil producer is one of only three OPEC member states that do not yet have a wealth fund.
Global markets and investors are closely watching Africa's second-biggest economy's plans for such a fund.
Nigeria's finance ministry issued a statement on Thursday titled "Investment starts March 2013", saying it will begin investing in several different assets.
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had told Reuters in July the fund would begin investing by the end of this year but political opposition has stalled its progress.
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are government-run investment portfolios that buy into anything from mainstream assets such as stocks and bonds to direct foreign investment.
"There are no geographical restrictions or product restrictions for the (fund)," Uche Orji, managing director of the SWF team was quoted as saying in the statement.
"We expect to invest across the full spectrum of products: equities, fixed income (and) alternative assets."
The government hopes the fund will provide a firmer legal basis to ring-fence Nigeria's savings from competing demands so it can better save money when oil prices are high.
Although the SWF will start with $1 billion, Okonjo-Iweala hopes to put more oil savings into the fund, but powerful state governors look set to block such measures because it reduces the amount of money in their budgets.
The SWF has three main aims: saving money for future generations, funding infrastructure, and defending the economy against commodity price shocks.
yahoo.com
Africa's biggest oil producer is one of only three OPEC member states that do not yet have a wealth fund.
Global markets and investors are closely watching Africa's second-biggest economy's plans for such a fund.
Nigeria's finance ministry issued a statement on Thursday titled "Investment starts March 2013", saying it will begin investing in several different assets.
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had told Reuters in July the fund would begin investing by the end of this year but political opposition has stalled its progress.
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are government-run investment portfolios that buy into anything from mainstream assets such as stocks and bonds to direct foreign investment.
"There are no geographical restrictions or product restrictions for the (fund)," Uche Orji, managing director of the SWF team was quoted as saying in the statement.
"We expect to invest across the full spectrum of products: equities, fixed income (and) alternative assets."
The government hopes the fund will provide a firmer legal basis to ring-fence Nigeria's savings from competing demands so it can better save money when oil prices are high.
Although the SWF will start with $1 billion, Okonjo-Iweala hopes to put more oil savings into the fund, but powerful state governors look set to block such measures because it reduces the amount of money in their budgets.
The SWF has three main aims: saving money for future generations, funding infrastructure, and defending the economy against commodity price shocks.
yahoo.com
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