Economy

CBN Pays N2.1trn Interest on N22.350trn OMO Bills in 2018

Published

7 years ago

14/05/2019

By Dipo Olowookere

The sum of N2.1 trillion was paid as interest on the N22.350 trillion Open Markets Operations (OMO) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2018.

Business Post reports that this information was disclosed in the Annual Activity Report of the CBN released on Tuesday.

The apex bank said in the report that this amount used in the management of liquidity in the money market last year was higher than the N1.489 billion spent on N11.347 billion in 2017.

According to the report, a total of N34.610 trillion OMO bills were issued during the year, higher than N13.763 trillion of the previous year, while a total subscriptions worth N24.916 trillion were received from investors during the OMO auctions in 2018, higher than N12.345 trillion in 2017.

In the report, the central bank attributed the high level of activity during the review period to the increased number of auctions to moderate the excess banking system liquidity, occasioned by the payments of statutory revenue to the three tiers of government, other fiscal disbursements and maturing CBN Bills, amongst others.

Meanwhile, the report said at the inter-bank funds market, the value of transactions decreased by 94.95 percent to N1.662 trillion in 2018 from N32.910 trillion in 2017.

It was stated that Open Buy Back (OBB) transactions accounted for 96.35 percent of the total value of interbank deals, while transactions at the unsecured inter-bank segment accounted for the balance of 3.65 percent, compared with 94.83 and 5.17 percent respectively in 2017.

A breakdown of the transactions at the inter-bank market showed appreciable decline in call placements by 96.22 percent to N60.70 billion from N1.604 trillion in 2017.

At the OBB segment, transactions decreased substantially, by 94.87 percent to N1.601 trillion from N31.208 trillion in 2017.

The sharp decline in the volume of transactions in 2018 was traceable to the banking system preference for OMO auctions.

Furthermore, the report said interest rates at all segments of the market mirrored the level of liquidity in the banking system and market players’ response to the bank’s policy direction. The fiscal operations of the federal government, effects of CRR maintenance, settlement for foreign exchange interventions, maturity of OMO Bills and liquidity withdrawals through the conduct of OMO by the bank were the dominant factors that influenced the banking system’s net liquidity levels and the movement in interest rates.

Compared with 21.36 and 24.61 percent in 2017, the annual average overnight inter-bank call and OBB rates were 13.11 and 12.15 percent in 2018. The interbank call rates ranged from 1.00 to 140.00 percent, while the OBB rates were between 1.85 and 131.04 percent in the same period.

The monthly average rate at the overnight segment was 14.72 percent in January, peaked at 25.43 percent in May and closed at 22.68 per cent in December 2018. Correspondingly, the monthly average OBB rate was 10.04 percent in January, peaked and closed at 21.64 percent in December.

The Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate (NIBOR) for call and 30-day tenors averaged 13.90 and 13.75 percent in 2018, compared with 25.49 and 25.21 percent in 2017, respectively.

Economy

NASD Index Rises 0.16% on Renewed Investors’ Appetite

Published

56 minutes ago

23/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.16 per cent on Monday, December 22 as investors showed hunger for unlisted stocks.

Trading data showed that the volume of securities traded at the session surged by 532.9 per cent to 12.6 million units from the previous 1.9 million units, as the value of transactions jumped by 64.3 per cent to N713.6 million from N80.3 million, though the number of deals moderated by 13.5 per cent to 32 deals from the 37 deals recorded in the previous trading session.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units sold for N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units worth N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.

InfraCredit Plc also finished the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with the sale of 1.2 billion units for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 537.0 million units valued at N524.9 million.

The unlisted securities market printed a price loser, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which dropped 20 Kobo to sell at N53.80 per share versus last Friday’s closing price of N54.00 per share.

However, the loss was offset by the trio of NASD Plc, Golden Capital Plc, and UBN Property Plc.

NASD Plc gained N5.00 to close at N60.00 per unit versus N55.00 per unit, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 77 Kobo to N8.45 per share from N7.68 per share, and UBN Property Plc improved by 22 Kobo to N2.43 per unit from N2.21 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N3.38 billion to N2.125 billion from N2.121 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 5.65 per cent to 3,552.06 points from 3,546.41 points.

Economy

Nigeria’s Stock Exchange Sustains Bull Run by 0.26%

Published

1 hour ago

23/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The bulls remained on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday, rallying by 0.26 per cent at the close of transactions.

This was buoyed by the gains recorded by 34 equities on Nigeria’s stock exchange, which outweighed the losses posted by 20 equities, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Aluminium Extrusion gained 9.72 per cent to quote at N13.55, International Energy Insurance improved by 9.69 per cent to N2.49, Mecure Industries rose by 9.64 per cent to N60.30, Royal Exchange expanded by 9.60 per cent to N1.94, and Austin Laz grew by 9.50 per cent to N2.65.

On the flip side, Custodian Investment depleted by 10.00 per cent to N35.10, ABC Transport crashed by 10.00 per cent to N3.15, Prestige Assurance weakened by 7.41 per cent to N1.50, and Guinea Insurance slipped by 7.38 per cent to N1.13.

During the session, investors traded 451.5 million shares worth N13.0 billion in 33,327 deals compared with the 1.5 billion shares valued at N21.8 billion transacted in 25,667 deals in the preceding session, showing spike in the number of deals by 29.84 per cent, and a decline in the trading volume and value by 69.90 per cent and 40.37 per cent apiece.

The first trading session of the Christmas week had Tantalizers as the most active with 50.2 million units sold for N127.5 million, First Holdco transacted 32.6 million units worth N1.5 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 27.3 million units valued at N562.3 million, Custodian Investment traded 22.1 million units for N857.8 million, and Chams transacted 21.3 million units valued at N71.1 million.

When the closing gong was struck at 2:30 pm to end trading activities, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 401.69 points to 152,459.07 points from 152,057.38 points and the market capitalisation went up by N256 billion to N97.193 trillion from N96.937 trillion.

Economy

Naira Appreciates to N1,456/$1 at Official FX Market

Published

2 hours ago

23/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira opened the week stronger against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N7.93 or 0.54 per cent on Monday, December 22, trading at N1,456.56/$1 compared with last Friday’s value of N1,464.49/$1.

The local currency also appreciated against the Euro in the same market window yesterday by N4.04 to close at N1,710.59/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,714.63/€1, but depreciated against the Pound Sterling by 3 Kobo to finish at N1,957.33/£1 compared with the previous session’s N1,957.30/£1.

At the GTBank FX counter, the Nigerian Naira lost N3 against the greenback during the session to end at N1,470/$1 versus N1,467/$1 and remained unchanged in the parallel market at N1,485/$1.

Despite the market facing seasonal pressure, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. The lender sold $150 million to authorised dealers and banks to absorb pressures from increasing demand for Dollar.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s foreign exchange (FX) reserves have recorded the first decline in 25 weeks, falling by $263.151 million to $45.21 billion as of December 17, 2025, according to new data from the apex bank.

This marks a reversal of a long-running accumulation trend that pushed reserves to their highest level in six years. The contraction ended a sustained build-up that had peaked at $45.472 billion on December 12.

As for the cryptocurrency market, the bears dominated, with traders remaining cautious about a significant recovery with the market facing exhaustion.

While the total crypto market capitalization has surpassed $3 trillion, analysts warn that the market outcomes in the next few weeks may be driven by exhaustion rather than renewed confidence.

Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.9 per cent to $1.88, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.8 per cent to $2,971.28, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 1.4 per cent to sell at $87,599.57, and Solana (SOL) slumped by 1.1 per cent to $124.89.

Further, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 0.9 per cent to close at $76.84, Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 0.7 per cent to $0.1310, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.6 per cent to sell for $852.09, and Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.1 per cent to $0.3655, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.