Economy
Drop in Economic Growth Worries FG
By Dipo Olowookere
Federal government has expressed concerns over the slower growth recorded by the nation’s economy in the second quarter of 2018.
On Monday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.50 percent in Q2 2018, lower than the 1.95 percent in the Q1 2018.
Reacting to this, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udo Udoma, explained that this was mainly due to the contraction in the Crude oil and Gas sectors, which was caused by some production issues already being addressed by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
For instance, average crude oil production was only 1.84 million barrels/day in Q2 2018 as opposed to an average production of 2 mil barrels/ day in Q1 2018, expressing confidence that once these issues are addressed, Nigeria should be able to achieve positive growth in the oil and gas sector.
However, the Minister said government is encouraged by the continuing growth recorded in the non-oil sector, which grew by 2.05 percent in the period under review.
This, he noted, was evidence that the implementation of the targeted policies and programs of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) was yielding positive results.
Mr Udoma said that he is happy to see that the Nigerian economy has continued to register positive growth in the first and second quarters of the year in spite of the security and other challenges faced by the country.
He emphasized that the focus of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is on diversifying the economy away from dependence on the oil and gas sector and was encouraged that efforts are yielding fruits by the continuing growth in the non-oil sector..
Mr Udoma noted that the 2.05 percent growth in the non-oil sector represents the strongest growth in the non-oil GDP since the fourth quarter of 2015.
According to the stats office, the non-oil growth was driven by Transportation (road, rail water and air).
Growth in Transportation grew by 21.76 percent, supported by Construction 7.66 percent and Electricity 7.59 percent; the three priority areas of the ERGP.
Other non-oil sectors that drove growth in Q2 2018 included Telecoms which grew by 11.51 percent, Water supply and Sewage 11.98 percent and Broadcasting by 21.92 percent.
However, the Oil and Gas sector contracted by 3.95 percent in Q2 2018 compared with a growth rate of 14.77 percent recorded in Q1 2018 and 3.53 percent in Q1 2017.
The Minister emphasized that the Nigerian economy needs growth from both the oil, as well as the non-oil sectors, to achieve its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) growth targets.
He said another area of concern for government was the slightly weaker growth in the Agriculture sector which slowed to 1.19 percent in the second quarter in 2018 compared with 3 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
This, he said, was partly attributable to security challenges mainly in the north-east and north-central zones of the country.
These security challenge affected activities of farmers with impact on commodity output; but the Minister indicated that the various measures being taken by government to tackle the situation is already reducing incidents of violent conflicts & other disruptions to farming activity.
The Minister said he is happy to see that Industry has continued to maintain a positive growth rate as a result of the performance of Manufacturing and Solid minerals which retained positive growth of 0.68 percent and 5.24 percent respectively in the second quarter of 2018.
Also, the Services sector recorded its best GDP performance in nine quarters, growing by 2.12 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to a contraction of 0.47 percent in the first quarter of the year and of -0.85 percent in second quarter of 2017.
Mr Udoma expressed that he was encouraged by these GDP growth results which he said is also consistent with improvements in other indicators including inflation and capital inflows, amongst others.
According to the NBS, headline inflation has consistently declined every month since January 2017 through July 2018 from 18.72 percent to 11.14 percent.
The consecutive disinflation year on year, which is the eighteenth in a row, has resulted in the lowest rate of inflation since June 2016.
He was also happy to note that the Nigerian economy has continued to attract significant capital inflows, which stood at $5.5 billion in the second quarter of 2018, representing a 207.62 percent increase compared to the second quarter of 2017.
While capital importation declined slightly in the second quarter of 2018, the total for the first half of 2018 at $11.8 billion represents the highest half year capital importation since 2014, indicating increasing confidence in the Nigerian economy, he pointed out.
The Minister expressed optimism that as government intensifies its activities in the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, the economy will sustain this growth momentum.
He conceded that, whilst the nation still has some ways to go to achieve the target growth rates of the ERGP, these continuing positive results are signs that the country was moving in the right direction.
Mr Udoma reiterated the commitment of the present administration to turn #Nigeria around to become a productive country where citizens “grow what we eat, consume what we make and use what we produce,” thereby providing jobs for our teeming population.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.
This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.
It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.
MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.
GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.
Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.
Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.
This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.
The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.
Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.
Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.
Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.
The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.
Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.
Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn