Economy
$4.31b FX Was Sold To Dealers In 2016 Q2—CBN
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released the economic report for the second quarter of 2016.
In the report seen by Business Post, growth in the key monetary aggregates accelerated in the second quarter of 2016.
The apex bank said during the period under review, provisional data showed that foreign exchange inflow and outflow through it amounted to US$5.89 billion and US$6.09 billion, respectively, resulting in a net outflow of US$0.20 billion.
It further said foreign exchange sales by it to the authorized dealers amounted to US$4.31 billion in the second quarter of 2016. It explained that the average exchange rate of the naira vis-à-vis the US dollar at the inter-bank was N209.13/US$.
CBN also said over the level at the end of the preceding quarter, broad money supply, (M2), grew by 5.9 percent.
It explained in the report that the development reflected the increase in net foreign assets, domestic credit (net) and other assets (net) of the banking system, respectively.
Similarly, narrow money (M1), grew by 0.9 per cent over the level at the end of the preceding quarter.
Developments in banks’ deposit and lending rates were mixed during the second quarter of 2016. The spread between the weighted average term deposit and maximum lending rates widened to 21.43 percentage points at the end of the second quarter of 2016.
Similarly, the margin between the average savings deposit and the maximum lending rates widened to 24.10 percentage points.
At the inter-bank funds segment, the weighted average inter-bank call rate rose by 12.55 percentage points to 15.56 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, reflecting the liquidity condition in the banking system.
The total value of money market assets outstanding at the end of the second quarter of 2016, stood at N10,460.66 billion, showing an increase of 6.7 per cent, compared with the level at the end of the first quarter of 2016. The development reflected the 8.09 and 2.73 per cent increase in FGN bonds and treasury bills, respectively.
Developments on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) were mixed in the review quarter.
At N1,159.05 billion, total federally-collected revenue was 51.3 and 8.6 per cent lower than the quarterly budget estimate and the preceding quarter’s receipts, respectively. At N537.19 billion or 46.3 per cent of the total, gross oil receipt was lower than both the provisional quarterly budget and the receipts in the preceding quarter.
The development was attributed to the continued fall in receipts from crude oil/gas exports arising from persistent low price of crude oil and incidences of shut-ins and shut-downs at some NNPC terminals, owing to pipeline vandalism. Non-oil receipts, at N621.86 billion or 53.7 per cent of the total, was above the level in the preceding quarter by 3.2 per cent, but was significantly lower than the proportionate quarterly budget.
Federal Government retained revenue was N677.88 billion, while total expenditure was N1,768.85 billion, resulting in an estimated deficit of N1,090.96 billion in the second quarter of 2016, compared with the proportionate quarterly budget deficit of N555.49 billion.
The CBN said in the report that agricultural sector activities increased due to well distributed rainfall in most parts of the country. Major activity in the South was harvesting of maize and yam, while planting and off-season harvesting dominated in the North. In the livestock sub-sector, farmers engaged in the breeding of poultry and migration of cattle from North to South in search of green pastures. The end-period inflation rate on year-on-year and 12-month moving average basis for the second quarter of 2016, was 16.5 per cent and 11.4 per cent, respectively.
World crude oil demand and supply were estimated at 93.25 mbd and 94.34 mbd, respectively, in the second quarter of 2016. Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, was estimated at an average of 1.54 million barrels per day (mbd) or 141.68 million barrels (mb) for the second quarter of 2016. Crude oil export was estimated at 1.09 mbd or 100.28 million barrels, while deliveries to the refineries for domestic consumption remained at 0.45 mbd or 41.40 million barrels during the review quarter.
The average price of Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light (370 API), was US$46.44 per barrel in the review quarter.
Global growth remained modest and uneven. Risks to the global outlook remained tilted to the downside, due to ongoing adjustments in the global economy, general slowdown in emerging market economies, China’s rebalancing, lower commodity prices and gradual exit by the US from extraordinarily accommodative monetary policy.
Other major international economic developments and meetings of importance to the domestic economy during the review period included: The 2016 Spring Meetings of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-Governmental Group of Twenty-Four (G-24) on International Monetary Affairs and Developments held from April 11 – 18, 2016 in Washington D. C., USA. Also, the 2016 continental seminar of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) was held from May 9 -11 2016 in Cairo, Egypt, on the theme “Financial stability: New Challenges for Central Banks.
Finally, the 51st Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the 42nd Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund (ADF) were held from May 23 – 27 2016 in Lusaka, Zambia.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened further by 1.75 per cent on Tuesday, August 18, triggered by losses recorded by the duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Food Concepts Plc.
CSCS Plc, the Nigerian securities depository company, lost N8.48 to settle at N90.02 per share compared with the previous value of N98.50 per share, while Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food franchise, Chicken Republic, dropped 15 Kobo to end at N2.35 per unit versus N2.50 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) further declined by 77.26 points to 4,348.76 points from Monday’s 4,426.02 points, while the market capitalisation dipped by N46.37 billion to N2.610 trillion from N2.656 trillion.
During the session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors slumped by 82.6 per cent to 113,728 units from the previous session’s 652,081 units, and the value of securities slid by 12.4 per cent to N9.4 million from the preceding day’s N10.7 million, while the number of deals increased by 47.6 per cent to 31 deals from 21 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.7 million units transacted for N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Nigerian Naira further appreciated against the US Dollar by N6.22 or 0.46 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, August 18, to N1,343.32/$1 from the previous rate of N1,349.54/$1.
This occurred amid steady growth in Nigeria’s external reserves, rising to $52.32 billion as of August 17, 2026, giving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enough arsenal to defend the local currency when the need arises in the FX market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N10.85 to close at N1,819.26/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,830.11/£1, and gained N8.55 on the Euro to sell at N1,556.24/€1 versus Monday’s N1,564.79/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira appreciated against the Dollar in the black market during the trading session by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1, in contrast to the N1,395/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and strengthened at the GTBank forex desk by N7 to N1,357/$1 from N1,364/$1.
NAFEM interbank FX turnover declined as financial institutions’ activities moderated. Interbank FX turnover dropped by 16.6 per cent to $364.709 million from $437.529 million, with the number of deals down by 39.3 per cent to 108 deals from 178 deals.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $64,120.36, as most other major cryptocurrencies closed in the green amid a global selloff in chip stocks.
An Asian semiconductor gauge dropped more than 3 per cent, following a 5 per cent slide in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Tuesday, its worst session since late July, while investors await US Federal Reserve minutes and are widely expecting no rate change in September.
Solana (SOL) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $76.66, Cardano (ADA) added 0.9 per cent to trade at $0.1748, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 0.6 per cent to $1,905.54, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.9986, TRON (TRX) improved by 0.3 per cent to $0.3327, and Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 0.2 per cent to $0.0698.
However, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $600.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has recently struggled to regain its spark due to continued selling pressure from investors reducing their exposure to equities in favour of fixed-income investment instruments.
Yesterday, the stock market further shed 0.35 per cent on the back of profit-taking in the banking sector, which closed lower by 1.83 per cent. The consumer goods space lost 0.13 per cent, and the energy counter depreciated by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance index gained 0.04 per cent, with the industrial goods segment closing flat.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased on Tuesday by 843.42 points to 241,611.23 points from 242,454.65 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N545 billion to N155.973 trillion from N156.518 trillion.
Like the previous session, investor sentiment was weak after Customs Street ended with 22 price gainers and 37 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Red Star Express weakened by 10.00 per cent to N16.20, Trans-Nationwide Express crashed by 9.94 per cent to N2.81, Meyer depleted by 9.88 per cent to N15.05, Chellarams plunged by 9.77 per cent to N9.70, and Fortis Global Insurance moderated by 9.70 per cent to N2.14.
On the flip side, Haldane McCall surged by 9.97 per cent to N3.20, Veritas Kapital climbed by 7.09 per cent to N1.36, Tantalizers rose by 5.26 per cent to N4.00, RT Briscoe appreciated by 4.31 per cent to N10.90, and Regency Alliance grew by 3.66 per cent to 85 Kobo.
A look at the activity chart for the day showed the volume of transactions significantly retreated by 66.94 per cent as a result of the absence of big-ticket trades, and the number of deals dropped by 21.57 per cent, while the value of trades increased by 20.09 per cent.
Market participants traded 429.8 million stocks valued at N27.5 billion in 35,683 deals during the session compared with the 1.3 billion stocks worth N22.9 billion transacted in 45,494 deals on Monday.
Sterling Holdings led the activity chart with a turnover of 51.6 million units for N390.6 million. FCMB traded 50.0 million units worth N584.8 million, Chams sold 32.4 million units valued at N134.5 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 180 million units for N24.3 million, and First Holdco transacted 17.0 million units worth N2.2 billion.
