Economy
Border Closure to Push Inflation to 11.32%—Analysts
By Dipo Olowookere
Analysts at Meristem Research have projected that inflation rate in Nigeria for the month of October 2019 will increase to 11.32 percent from 11.24 percent recorded in September, indicating a year-on-year 0.08 percent rise.
The firm said one of the major factors to cause this increase in inflation rate is the closure of land borders since August 2019, which has caused prices of food items to significantly moved up.
In its inflation report, Meristem Research noted that decline in prices of food items in August 2019 was caused by the harvest season, but things changed when federal government closed the country’s borders, which had impact on commodity prices, triggering a 0.22 percent uptick in inflation in September.
“Data from our most recent survey of commodity and food prices suggests a significant expansion in the prices of staples such as rice, poultry and oil in October.
“Just before announcement of the border closure in August, a 50kg bag of rice retailed for c.N12,000. As the full effect of the closure set in, prices surged by between 75.00 percent and 100.00 percent to N21,000 and NGN24,000 per bag,” the report said.
Continuing, it said, “Poultry products (chicken and turkey) and oils have also recorded average price expansions of 33.00 percent and 17.00 percent respectively over the same period.
“Combined, these items formed the strongest inflationary pressure points, as prices of other local staples remained relatively stable.”
Analysts at Meristem Research said the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also supports the view that inflationary pressures are building as the index for last month rose from 57.7 in September to 58.2.
“We envisage that the imminent upward review in energy tariffs and extension of the border closure period to January 31, 2020 should sustain pressure on the CPI in the near term,” it said.
On the global scene, the Food Price Index of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ticked up by 5.97 percent year-on-year in October for the third consecutive month largely due to higher meat (+13.87 percent), dairy (+5.58 percent) and oils (+2.64%) prices.
“While this should ordinarily portend intensified inflationary pressures, owing to Nigeria’s large food import bill, the closure of the country’s land borders has emerged as the major upside risk to inflation,” the report said.
Concluding, Meristem Research said, “Following our evaluation of primary inflationary triggers in the economy, we forecast that headline inflation will tick up by 0.08 percent YoY, to 11.32 percent for October 2019.”
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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