Economy
CBN Monitors Spending Limits on Naira-Dominated Cards
By Dipo Olowookere
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it was monitoring the spending limits on Naira-denominated debit and credit cards for international transactions by bank customers.
This follows the increase in the monthly spending limit announced by several commercial banks last month.
However, the apex bank, in a circular issued later, warned the banks not overheat the foreign exchange market, which is gradually gaining its ground back.
As a result, some banks have reverted to the monthly spending threshold of $100 a month.
Last month, First Bank, Ecobank, UBA, FCMB and GTBank raised their monthly spending limits from $100 to about $1000 after there was stability in the forex market.
According to ThisDay, these banks did not get approval from the CBN before making the announcement increasing the monthly spending limits on the Naira cards.
“Even though we (CBN) didn’t give them approval before they made the announcements, we would not withhold the approval. But we felt they needed our approval before such announcement.
“But we will not withhold it because we know it was meant to support the market. We would continue to monitor activities in that market closely. We want to gauge the size of these transactions before we know what to do.
“What we are trying to do is to make sure that those that use those cards really need it and not for people to speculate with it,” the top central bank official, who did not want to be named,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.
Last year, Nigerian banks reduced, and in some cases, suspended FX transactions on their Naira cards (debit and credit) in the face of acute Dollar shortage brought on by shrinking FX earnings, a tightening in FX policies by the CBN, and reduced portfolio inflows.
But in a move that signalled improved FX liquidity in the banking system, several banks last month raised the monthly spending limit on their naira MasterCard by as much as 900 per cent to US$1,000 from US$100.
But some of the banks were silent on the category of customers that could benefit from this service.
It was observed that when the banks announced the opening up of their cards for international transactions by raising the limit, the rate of the Naira on the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) market, otherwise known as the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window, fell from N363 to a dollar to N379 to a dollar within days, leading to concern at the CBN.
The impression at that time was that the banks were buying FX from the NAFEX to fund the naira-denominated cards.
The I&E window, where buyers and sellers are free to agree to an exchange rate, was introduced in April to attract foreign investors and boost the supply of dollars in the country.
“The new investors’ and exporters’ FX window has provided impetus to portfolio inflows, helped increase reserves above $30 billion, and contributed to reducing the parallel market premium,” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) acknowledged in a report recently.
Additional information from ThisDay
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The deadline for filing individual annual income tax returns for residents of Lagos State has again been extended to April 21, 2026.
This information was revealed via a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Communications of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mrs Monsurat Amasa-Oyelude, on Saturday.
The agency thanked some taxpayers for their continued compliance and commitment to the filing of their individual annual income tax returns, but charged those who have yet to file theirs to do so before the new deadline.
LIRS had earlier moved the deadline from its statutory period of March 31, 2026, to April 14, 2026, but due to “the overwhelming response and to enhance taxpayer convenience, while maintaining the integrity and accuracy of submissions,” the date was moved forward to April 26.
The tax-collecting organisation said it “observed a significant increase in traffic on its eTax platform as more taxpayers endeavour to meet the filing deadline.”
“In view of this development, and to ensure that all taxpayers are provided with adequate opportunity to successfully complete their filings, LIRS hereby announces a further extension of the deadline, now set for April 21, 2026,” it stated.
The agency reiterated that all filings must be completed electronically via the LIRS eTax platform: https://etax.lirs.net, which remains the only approved channel for submission.
Taxpayers were reminded that the filing of annual income tax returns remains a statutory obligation and were encouraged to take advantage of this final extension to fulfil their civic responsibility.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was in green on Friday after it closed higher by 0.30 per cent as a result of sustained bargain hunting.
Customs Street was up yesterday after three of the five major sectors came under buying pressure, with the consumer goods index up by 1.64 per cent, the industrial goods space up by 1.12 per cent, and the banking counter up by 0.64 per cent.
Business Post observed that profit-taking brought down the insurance by 2.61 per cent, and weakened the energy sector by 0.01 per cent.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation increased by N707 billion to N131.166 trillion from N130.459 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) expanded by 1,097.86 points to 203,770.42 from 202,672.56 points.
Transactions by Nigerian stock investors shrank during the session, as 548.6 million shares worth N31.5 billion exchanged hands in 48,538 deals compared with the 652.9 million shares valued at N39.8 billion transacted in 51,101 deals a day earlier.
This implied that the trading volume went down by 15.98 per cent, the trading value depreciated by 20.85 per cent, and the number of deals crashed by 5.02 per cent.
Access Holdings finished the day as the busiest equity after selling 52.7 million units valued at N1.4 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 47.8 million units worth N5.4 billion, UBA traded 38.9 million units for N1.8 billion, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 36.7 million units worth N35.5 million, and GTCO sold 34.9 million units valued at N4.6 billion.
The market breadth index was negative during the session with 20 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating weak investor sentiment.
Trans Nationwide Express appreciated by 9.91 per cent to N3.77, International Breweries grew by 9.88 per cent to N13.35, Chams rose by 9.84 per cent to N3.35, Guinea Insurance improved by 9.38 per cent to N462.90, and Lafarge Africa gained 8.52 per cent to close at N233.20.
On the flip side, Omatek lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N2.07, Austin Laz declined by 9.93 per cent to N3.99, Coronation Insurance dipped by 9.88 per cent to N2.92, Zichis crashed by 9.58 per cent to N12.55, and Cornerstone Insurance retreated by 8.77 per cent to N5.20.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the last trading session of the week in the southern territory after further losing 0.59 per cent on Friday, April 10.
This happened as three price decliners weakened the NASD market due to continued sell-offs. The bourse did not finish in green this week.
11 Plc lost N24.70 to close at N222.30 per share compared with the previous day’s N247.00 per share, MRS Oil dropped N1 to settle at N164.00 per unit versus Thursday’s N165.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 25 Kobo to N3.00 per share from N3.25 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation shrank by N13.79 billion to N2.315 trillion from N2.329 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 23.05 points to 3,870.45 points from 3,893.50 points.
Yesterday, there were two price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which chalked up N1.07 to sell at N64.21 per unit versus N63.50 per share, and Impresit Bakalori Plc appreciated by 22 Kobo to N2.42 per share from N2.20 per share.
The volume of securities fell by 81.9 per cent to 188,593 units from 1.04 million units, the value of securities decreased by 36.3 per cent to N25.7 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals remained unchanged at 26 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 57.6 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.6 million units worth N1.8 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units s0ld for N415.7 million and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded at N1.2 billion.
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