Economy
Udoma Briefs National Assembly On Economic Plan
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
National Assembly has been asked to join forces with the executive and ensure that the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (NERGP) does not end up as another beautifully bound document meant for the shelves.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, while briefing a select joint committee of the National Assembly recently as part of consultations towards packaging a strategic and all inclusive economic policy document, said the need for the plan and its effective implementation was all the more imperative, especially given the current state of the economy.
Recalling that the country has had several beautifully packaged but hardly implemented economic plans in the past, he urged that every effort must be made to ensure that the new plan eventually does not suffer the fate of those before it.
To ensure the NERGP does not go the way of others, he disclosed that Government is putting in place a specially staffed Delivery Unit that will drive implementation of the NERG Plan through effective monitoring and evaluation.
He explained that the plan is structured in such a way that it will be the basis for all subsequent budgets, which is why the contributions and support of the National Assembly is very critical, to ensure the effective realization of the objectives.
The NERGP focuses on five broad areas namely: macroeconomic policy, economic diversification and growth drivers, competitiveness, social inclusion and jobs, and governance and other enablers.
Acknowledging receipt, and confirming consideration of earlier inputs from the National Assembly, the Minister told the members, drawn mainly from the relevant Committees of the two chambers, that “we are here to consult you in a more organized and focused way so as to further enrich the plan with further inputs from you.”
He told them that the plan is national in nature and will require inputs from the National Assembly and the sub-national governments. The time-frame for the plan is 2017 – 2020 and all subsequent annual budgets under the Buhari Administration will be driven by the NERGP.
“This plan builds on the previous development plans the country has developed, particularly the Vision 20-2020. The development of this plan is part of a process we have been working on since we came into government. We started with the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 2016 Budget”, he explained.
The SIP was followed with the development of the Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) for some selected big spending ministries; and subsequently the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). All these documents were developed after extensive consultations with experts and relevant stakeholders.
The Minister told the legislators that regarding the NERGP, consultations already have been held with several stakeholders, including a retreat involving representatives of the private sector, academia, government officials and other stakeholders, which generated very insightful ideas on issues to consider in the plan. “We also held a roundtable with the Honourable Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries of State’s Ministries of Economic Planning and Budget, as well as our Development Partners”.
Explaining the scope of the plan, the Minister said it is a medium-term plan (2017-2020), which is expected to drive Nigeria to a minimum growth rate of 7% within the plan period.
“However, the fact that we are in recession means that the Plan is one that must also be designed to get us quickly out of recession. The NERGP therefore fulfils the dual goal of identifying short-term recovery initiatives to get us quickly out of recession, as well as presenting a medium-term growth plan.
“Our goal is to have an economy with low inflation, stable exchange rates, and a diversified inclusive growth. The proposed initiatives prescribed by the plan address the country’s poor competiveness, and are designed to improve the business environment and attract investment in infrastructure. Jobs and social inclusion are also key deliverables of the plan”, he explained.
In his response, the Chairman of the Session, Senator Gershom Bassey, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream, said there is a need to focus on some very strong points of the economy, as trying to address all the economic challenges at once may be counter-productive.
While agreeing that there was need for effective implementation of strategic economic plans, Mr Bassey also emphasized the need for a balance-sheet approach to national development where inputs match outputs.
He suggested the domestication of the oil and gas industry as, according to him, the local content participation in the industry is embarrassingly low.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.
Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.
However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.
At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.
UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.
On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.
A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
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 worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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