Economy
Group Lauds Impact of CBN Interventions on Nigerians
By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Centre for Justice and Human Right has lauded the interventions introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying they have had a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians.
This praise was given by the Centre’s Deputy Head of Communication, Mrs Jasmine Akpeh, who stressed that the organisation was aware that these interventions, under the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, have been boosting job creation in the country, thereby saving millions of Nigerians, especially youths, from unemployment.
She said the group has also received testimonies from across the country on how some of the interventions have been lifting millions of others from poverty.
“Some of these interventions that have been making lives more meaningful for teeming Nigerians include but are not limited to the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), the creative financing initiatives, solar energy interventions, family house ownership scheme, the interventions to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, firms and individuals among others.
“We, therefore, urge the apex bank to sustain these pro-people initiatives. We also urge Nigerians to embrace these life-changing interventions since they were designed for our benefits,” she stated.
President Muhammadu Buhari launched the ABP in 2015 to boost agricultural production and reverse Nigeria’s negative balance of payments on food.
Farmers captured under this programme include those cultivating cereals (rice, maize, wheat etc.) cotton, roots and tubers, sugarcane, tree crops, legumes, tomato and livestock.
Loans are disbursed to the beneficiary farmers through Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs), which the programme recognises as Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs).
The creative financing initiative of the apex bank is aimed at providing facilities Creative in the four pillars of fashion, information technology, movie, and music.
The Solar Power Naija Program is a N140 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention facility intended to expand energy access to 25 million Nigerians, by enabling 5 million new, solar-based electricity connections in communities that are not connected to the grid.
The family housing scheme financing initiative seeks to support the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability programme to fast track the deployment of 300,000 homes in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory and to create up to 1.5 million jobs in 5 years.
The apex bank then released several initiatives to cushion against the coronavirus pandemic, including a N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the outbreak among others.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude prices fell by more than 3 per cent on Friday as oil tankers kept exiting the Strait of Hormuz, easing supply concerns the day after a cargo vessel was hit near Oman.
Brent crude futures settled at $71.99 a barrel, down $3.27 or 4.34 per cent, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) finished at $69.23 a barrel, down $2.69 or 3.74 per cent. Week-on-week, the Brent benchmark fell 10.86 per cent while the US WTI fell 9.62 per cent.
Prior to the agreement on a 60-day ceasefire, markets worried supplies would fall short of demand, but those fears seem to be passing.
Crude transits through the Strait of Hormuz rose to the highest weekly tally since the onset of the US-Iran conflict this week, with more than 16 million barrels passing through the waterway this Wednesday-Thursday, raising hopes of a full, gradual reopening.
This happened despite Iran firing at a Taiwanese cargo ship, raising fears that Hormuz transit could be choked off again. Iran’s IRG fired several drones at the Taiwan-owned Ever Lovely cargo ship, reportedly attempting to cross the Hormuz through “unauthorised routes,” damaging the vessel’s bridge some 7 miles off the Omani coast on Thursday.
The attack on the ship prompted the United Nations’ shipping agency to pause its voluntary evacuation scheme to enable hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers to sail out of the Gulf through the strait.
On Friday, Iran reasserted its right to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and warned Gulf states against siding with the US.
Many ships have been switching on their public automatic identification system (AIS) tracking transponders, but some may have gone undetected due in part to major disruption of AIS signals, as well as ships not showing their movements through the strait. That makes it difficult to estimate the complete volume of shipments.
Chinese crude oil imports this month are on course to book an even weaker month than May, according to Kpler data, which sees the daily average at just 6.4 million barrels.
According to media reports, Iraq has considered leaving the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) if the oil group does not allow it to significantly increase its crude production quotas, currently at 4.378 million barrels per day, a claim which the Iraqi Oil Ministry subsequently denied and called ‘premature’.
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