Fitch: Nigeria to negative

Fitch Ratings said it revised the outlook on Nigeria's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to negative from stable and affirmed the ratings at B+.

The ratings on Nigeria's senior unsecured foreign-currency bonds also were affirmed at B+.

The country ceiling also was affirmed at B+ and short-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings were affirmed at B.

The outlook revision reflects tight foreign-currency liquidity and low oil production that have contributed to Nigeria's first recession since 1994, Fitch explained.

The economy contracted through the first three quarters of 2016 and Fitch said it estimates GDP growth of -1.5% in 2016 as a whole.

The agency also said it expects a limited economic recovery in 2017 with growth of 1.5%, well below the 2011 to 2015 annual growth average of 4.8%.

The non-oil economy also will continue to be constrained by tight foreign-exchange liquidity, Fitch said.

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