Economy
Cardoso Must Clear FX Backlog, Create Autonomous Forex Window—CPPE
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called on the newly appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, to clear the backlog of foreign exchange as well as guarantee another recapitalisation in the banking sector.
“The clearance of the backlog of forex obligations should be accorded high priority to restore the confidence of domestic and foreign investors,” the Managing Director of CPPE, Mr Muda Yusuf said in a press statement titled Ten Point Agenda For The CBN Governor, released over the weekend.
Mr Cardoso and four new deputies on Friday took over the helm of affairs at the apex bank in an acting capacity ahead of his possible confirmation by the Senate this week.
Mr Yusuf tasked Mr Cardoso with the implementation of policies to deepen stakeholder engagement and strengthen the efficiency of the financial system.
He suggested that the newly appointed CBN management team should, in addition to the existing Investor and Exporter (I&E) FX exchange window, “create an autonomous window in the banking system where the currency can trade freely without any encumbrances,” to help reduce dependency on alternative FX windows.
Mr Yusuf also called for the new CBN governor to ensure the recapitalisation of banks, more than 20 years since the last exercise happened.
“During the banking consolidation exercise of 2004, the minimum capital requirements for banks were raised from N2 billion to N25 billion. The revised capital requirement was an equivalent of $187 million.
“Today, the same N25 billion is equivalent to just $32.5 million. This is a clear indication of the phenomenal erosion of the capital base of the banks.
“Recapitalisation of the banks has, therefore, become imperative. It is important to ensure that the capital base of banks can support their current exposures in the interest of the financial system’s stability.”
According to Mr Yusuf, another issue before the new CBN leadership is deepening the financial intermediation role of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), which is their primary role in an economy.
“This responsibility entails the mobilisation of financial resources from the surplus end of the economy to the deficit segment of the economy. Financial conditions remain very tight for the private sector amid challenges of access and cost of credit.
“Banking system credit to the private sector in Nigeria, as of 2022, was a mere 20.6 per cent of the nation’s GDP, as sub-Saharan average of 28 per cent and global average of 145 per cent.
“Besides, small businesses, which account for an estimated 50 per cent of the GDP, have access to just about one per cent of the credit in the banking system. The implication is that the banking system is still largely disconnected from the investing community, especially the small businesses in the economy.
“The financing gap in the small business space has been estimated at over N600 billion. This anomaly needs to be corrected. All these underscore the need to deepen synergy and complementarity between the banking system and the economic players, especially the MSMEs.”
He proposed that the new CBN leadership should address the efficiency of the financial system, particularly the high spread between deposit and lending rates in the Nigerian banking system, which indicates significant efficiency problems.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira continued its appreciation against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, April 14, by N12.42 or 0.92 per cent to close at N1,343.77/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,356.19/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency gained 58 Kobo against the Pound Sterling in the spot market during the session to settle at N1,824.57/£1 versus Monday’s closing value of N1,825.15/£1, and appreciated against the Euro by N2.18 to N1,585.51/€1 from N1,587.69/€1.
Similarly, the Naira strengthened its value against the US Dollar at the GTBank forex counter yesterday by N2 to quote at N1,371/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,373/$1, and at the black market, it improved by N5 to trade at N1,380/$1 compared with the N1,385/$1 it was transacted a day earlier.
Interbank liquidity increased sharply to N141.315 million across 175 deals, according to the FX update published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a 260 per cent surge from N38.256 million the previous day.
High FX inflows, boosted by foreign portfolio investors’ funds channelled into OMO bills, increased demand for Naira.
Credit rating agency, Fitch, projected that Nigeria’s FX reserves may fall to $47 billion over mounting fiscal pressures, predicting that Nigeria’s budget deficit could widen to nearly five per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The forecast comes amid continued reforms by the central bank aimed at stabilising the FX market, including measures to ease restrictions on the repatriation of oil export proceeds by international oil companies.
According to Fitch, these reforms have supported a “gradual normalisation” of the FX market and improved investor confidence, although structural weaknesses continue to weigh on the economy.
As for the cryptocurrency market, profit-taking by investors occurred amid signals of renewed US-Iran talks and growing expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year, which are projected to add liquidity and support risk assets, including digital currencies.
Optimism that the US and Iran will enter a second round of talks in the coming days has kept crude oil below $100 a barrel, easing the inflationary overhang that weighed on markets through March.
Solana (SOL) slumped by 3.1 per cent to $83.03, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 1.8 per cent to $2,318.70, Cardano (ADA) fell by 1.1 per cent to $0.2393, Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.7 per cent to $1.35, and Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 0.5 per cent to $74,019.75.
However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3232, Dogecoin (DOGE) added 0.3 per cent to trade at $0.0933, and Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 0.1 per cent to $613.93, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bulls consolidated their dominance on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday after closing higher by 0.67 per cent, stretching the year-to-date return to 32.27 per cent.
It was observed that the key sectors of Nigeria’s stock exchange witnessed buying pressure, with the energy space expanding by 4.35 per cent, the banking index growing by 1.97 per cent, the industrial goods counter rising by 0.71 per cent, the insurance segment increasing by 0.65 per cent, and the consumer goods landscape up by 0.14 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 1,372.52 points to 205,831.38 points from 204,458.86 points, and the market capitalisation chalked up N883 billion to close at N132.492 trillion compared with Monday’s N131.609 trillion.
There were 40 price gainers and 20 price losers yesterday, indicating a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Stanbic IBTC appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N161.70, Ecobank gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N50.60, NGX Group improved by 9.97 per cent to N168.75, Cornerstone Insurance added 9.94 per cent to quote at N5.64, and Mecure soared by 9.92 per cent to N67.60.
On the flip side, Fortis Global Insurance lost 8.20 per cent to trade at N1.12, McNichols depreciated by 8.17 per cent to N6.52, Academy Press slipped by 6.96 per cent to N7.35, International Energy Insurance dipped by 6.88 per cent to N3.25, and Guinea Insurance contracted by 5.83 per cent to N1.13.
During the session, market participants transacted 569.3 million shares valued at N32.3 billion in 45,777 deals versus the 470.0 million shares worth N32.5 billion traded in 60,793 deals the previous session, implying a jump in the trading volume by 21.13 per cent, and a slip in the trading value and number of deals by 0.62 per cent and 24.70 per cent, respectively.
The most active stock for the day remained Access Holdings with 67.5 million units sold for N1.8 billion, Zenith Bank traded 39.7 million units worth N4.5 billion, VFD Group transacted 37.6 million units valued at N423.0 million, GTCO exchanged 30.6 million units for N3.8 billion, and Lasaco Assurance transacted 26.3 million units worth N52.6 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude prices dropped on Tuesday on hopes Iran will resume talks with the US and Israel to end the conflict that has shut the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures settled at $94.79 a barrel after losing $4.57 or 4.6 per cent, and the US West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $91.20 per barrel after it shed $7.80 or 7.87 per cent.
Talk of a resumption in US-Iran discussions put downward pressure on prices, ignoring the loss of physical barrels of oil that are not moving.
Reuters reported that negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Islamabad, Pakistan, this week amid continued engagement on trying to achieve an agreement.
The International Energy Agency said in its monthly report that attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East and Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have led to the largest oil supply disruption in history. It said over 10 million barrels per day were lost in March.
The IEA said resuming flows through the Strait of Hormuz remains the single most important variable in easing the pressure on energy supplies, prices and the global economy. The waterway is used for transporting crude and refined products, largely to Asia.
The IEA sharply cut its forecasts for global oil supply and demand growth, with the demand growth forecast for 2026 trimmed by 80,000 barrels per day and supply now expected to decline by 1.5 million barrels per day.
The US military said on Monday that its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would extend east to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. With two ships reportedly turned around in the strait as the blockade started. However, three Iran-linked tankers entered the Gulf and were allowed to pass because their destinations were not Iranian ports.
Iran threatened to respond to the blockade by attacking ports in nations bordering the Gulf.
Before the outbreak of the US-Iran war in late February, around 130 vessels transited the Strait daily. Traffic has since slowed to a trickle, and ships must now navigate both US naval oversight and Iranian directives.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US rose 6.10 million barrels in the week ending April 10. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories rose by 3.719 million barrels. Official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.
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