Economy
Low Interest Rate Could Lead to Inflation—CBN
By Dipo Olowookere
Though some have called for the lowering of the nation’s benchmark interest rate presently at 14 percent, others feel making such move at the moment could be counter-productive.
One of such people is the Director in charge of Policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Moses Tule, who is of the view that a lower interest rate could bring about inflation crisis in the country.
Nigeria went into a recession in the second quarter of 2016 as a result of very low price of crude oil at the international market. The commodity remains Nigeria’s major export and the drop in the price affected the nation’s economy, resulting in sharp fall in revenue.
But in the second quarter of 2017, the Africa’s largest market exited recession as a result of efforts made by government to diversify the economy.
When the country was battling with the economic crisis, many analysts, including the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, called for downward review of the interest rate, but the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, had maintained then that lowering the rate could spell doom for the country.
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Friday at the Maiden Colloquium of Prof Uche Uwaleke, Mr Tule noted that the downward review of the benchmark rate could lead to higher demand, leading to inflation which would bring about calls for wage increase in both public and private sectors, with various consequences for the economy.
The CBN Director argued that, “When you reduce MPR, of course, the way the fundamentals are today, you are going to have the impact of that in other ways; which means the demand is going to be higher on the government to increase wages because inflation will erode the living wage.”
According to him, “There will be demand on the government, and every other person in the private sector will demand for wage increase.
“That’s the choice. We have to choose between having to improve infrastructure and interest rate will come down overtime and the whole economy will benefit or reduce interest rate now and then worsen inflation.”
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited managed to finish in the green territory on Monday after it marginally closed higher by 0.01 per cent.
The last minute escape from the bears was triggered by the gains posted by large-cap equities like Zenith Bank, Aradel Holdings and others, offsetting the losses recorded by GTCO, Oando, First Holdco and others.
According to data obtained by Business Post, only 29 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart, while 44 equities landed on the losers’ table, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
Universal Insurance rose by 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.32, Premier Paints appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N11.00, DAAR Communications improved by 9.93 per cent to N1.55, RT Briscoe increased by 9.92 per cent to N8.64, and Morison Industries advanced by 9.91 per cent to N10.98.
On the flip side, Omatek declined by 10.00 per cent to N2.70, Union Homes REIT declined by 9.96 per cent to N85.40, AXA Mansard shrank by 9.94 per cent to N14.31, Deap Capital decreased by 9.90 per cent to N8.46, and C&I Leasing moderated by 9.80 per cent to N6.90.
On the first trading session of this week, market participants bought and sold 762.8 million shares valued at N18.4 billion in 55,374 deals compared with the 687.4 million shares worth N15.0 billion traded in 41,553 deals last Friday, a spike in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 10.97 per cent, 22.67 per cent, and 33.26 per cent, respectively.
Tantalizers ended the day as the most active stock with 88.5 million units sold for N329.4 million, Zenith Bank traded 40.2 million units worth N2.9 billion, Veritas Kapital transacted 39.2 million units valued at N92.1 million, Universal Insurance exchanged 29.3 million units for N38.1 million, and First Holdco transacted 27.6 million units worth N1.1 billion.
The sectorial performance yesterday showed that the mood of investors was in the sell region despite the slight growth recorded by Customs Street, as only the energy index closed in green, rising by 2.00 per cent.
The insurance counter was down by 1.99 per cent, the banking industry depleted by 0.64 per cent, the consumer goods shrank by 0.37 per cent, and the industrial goods retreated by 0.08 per cent.
When the first trading day of February 2026 ended on Monday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 14.23 points to 165,384.63 points from 165,370.40 points, while the market capitalization chalked up N9 billion to finish at N106.162 trillion compared with the previous session’s N106.153 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The two major crude oil grades in the global market fell by more than 4 per cent per barrel on Monday after the most recent tensions between the United States and Iran appeared to have eased.
Brent crude futures went down by $3.02 or 4.4 per cent to settle at $66.30 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined by $3.07 or 4.7 per cent to $62.14 per barrel.
Last week, markets reacted to the renewed tension in the world’s most important oil-producing and exporting region, and oil prices soared.
However, this weekend, US President Donald Trump said that he believes Iran is “seriously” talking with the US, adding he hopes that negotiations could lead to an “acceptable” deal with the member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Market analysts noted that with the US President facing weak poll numbers, a military escalation that risks pushing petrol prices sharply higher appears unlikely ahead of the November midterm elections.
Prices were also pressured by a stronger US Dollar and milder weather forecasts. The American currency strengthened as currency traders cheered President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. A stronger Dollar makes oil more expensive for investors using other currencies.
US futures prices for diesel, used in heating and power generation, fell more than 6 per cent triggered by forecasts of milder weather in the US, the world’s largest oil consumer.
OPEC+ agreed to keep its oil output unchanged for March at a meeting, the producer group said on Sunday. The brief meeting reaffirmed that decision for March, after earlier gatherings did the same for January and February.
The eight producers – Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman – raised production quotas by about 2.9 million barrels per day from April through December 2025, roughly 3 per cent of global demand.
In November, the group froze further planned increases for January through March 2026 because of seasonally weaker consumption.
Four OPEC+ producers that have been pumping crude above their respective quotas have filed with the OPEC Secretariat updated compensation plans through June 2026, OPEC said on Monday.
The countries: Iraq, the UAE, Kazakhstan, and Oman filed updated plans to compensate for pumping above OPEC+ quotas through June 2026.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The duo of Presco Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc has listed additional shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The extra equities of these two publicly-listed organisations were admitted to the local stock exchange last Friday, increasing their respective total issued and fully paid-up shares.
For Presco, it listed fresh 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each on the daily official list of the NGX on Friday, January 30, 2026, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up stocks from 1,000,000,000 units to 1,166,666,667 units.
The additional equities were from the rights issue of the firm allotted to shareholders on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.
In a circular issued over the weekend, the NGX said, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Presco Plc were on Friday, January 30, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited (NGX).
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N1,420.00 per share on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.
“With the listing of the additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Presco Plc has now increased from 1,000,000,000 to 1,166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
As for GTCO, it listed additional125,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N80.00 per unit offered through private placement.
The fresh equities taken to Customs Street have raised the total issued and fully paid-up shares of GTCO from 36,425,229,514 to 36,550,229,514 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
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