Economy
FG Waives 10% Equity Payment on Mortgages Below N5m
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Federal Government says henceforth, mortgages below N5 million will no longer attract the initial payment of 10 percent equity from off-takers.
This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mr Mustapha Baba Shehuri, while commissioning a 125-unit housing estate being financed by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and developed by a private developer, Messrs LCK Projects (Nigeria) Limited, in Enugu, Enugu State, recently.
Mr Shehuri explained that this move was taken by the FG as a demonstration of its resolute commitment to the provision of affordable housing to Nigerians, especially the low income earners.
The Minister noted that in view of the challenge of housing deficit in Nigeria, which has been put at 16 – 17 million, the Ministry plans to build mass houses in every state of the federation for public workers and other interested parties, over the next three years, using the instructmentality of Public-Private Partnerships.
He added that National Housing Models have been designed and approved for each geo-political zone, which takes care of our cultural and climatic diversities in our choice of house type and standardization in the use of local building materials.
This, he said, will translate to affordability of housing for Nigerians and will also create employment opportunities for our teaming youths that are currently roaming the streets.
While commending the effort of the apex mortgage bank, the Minister noted that it has a pivotal role to play in the actualization of the aspirations of many Nigerians to own a home through mortgage, adding that the Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration will lend its full support to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria towards ensuring that it is adequately recapitalized and repositioned to cater for the mortgage finance needs of Nigerian workers, who would be the major beneficiaries of houses built under the National Housing Programme.
Earlier in his address at the event, Governor of Enugu State, Mr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, assured the Minister of the readiness of the state to continue providing enabling environment for housing development to thrive.
The Minister was also at Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, where he commissioned the 1st set of 72 units of houses out of 240 being financed by FMBN and undertaking by the Ebonyi State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC).
He was also at Owerri, Imo State for the commissioning of a 100-unit FMBN-Minfa Housing Estate.
Ebonyi State Governor, Mr Dave Umahi, reiterated the willingness of the government to partner with the bank in the provision of affordable housing for its workers, especially, and the citizenry, in general.
He added that the completed buildings have already been allocated to Civil/Public servants through the Office of the State Head of Service on Owner-Occupier basic.
Imo State, Mr Rochas Okorocha, represented by the Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, urged the management of FMBN to replicate the gesture in the 27 Local Government Areas of the state, while informing the Minister that a committee, to be chaired by his humble self, is to be constituted immediately to drive the process.
Acting Managing Director of Federal Mortgage Bank Nigeria, Mr Richard Esin, called on other Nigerians, in private employment or self-employed, who are currently not contributing to the National Housing Fund (NHF), to key into the scheme.
He further disclosed that the commissioned Housing Estates and others to be commissioned soon across the length and breadth of Nigeria were funded from the lean resources of the NHF, an SPV for driving the aspirations of Nigerians to transit from being tenants to home owners.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market was up on Friday on increasing expectations the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week, which could boost economic growth and energy demand.
Brent futures rose by 49 cents or 0.8 per cent to $63.75 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expanded by 41 cents or 0.7 per cent to $60.08 per barrel.
Investors digested a US inflation report and recalibrated expectations for the Federal Reserve to reduce rates at its December 9-10 meeting.
US consumer spending increased moderately in September after three straight months of solid gains, suggesting a loss of momentum in the economy at the end of the third quarter as a lackluster labor market and the rising cost of living curbed demand.
Traders have been pricing in an 87 per cent chance that the US central bank will lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points next week, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
Investors also focused on news from Russia and Venezuela to determine whether oil supplies from the two sanctioned members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) will increase or decrease in the future.
The failure of US talks in Moscow to achieve any significant breakthrough over the war in Ukraine has helped to boost oil prices so far this week.
A loss of Venezuelan oil production in case of a US military intervention will materially impact global benchmark prices as the market will have to replace Venezuela’s heavy crude.
Venezuela is estimated to pump about 1.1 million barrels per day of crude oil at present, so if the US-Venezuela tension escalation into an invasion in the South American country, this volume of crude would be at risk.
Reuters reported that the Group of Seven countries and the European Union are in talks to replace a price cap on Russian oil exports with a full maritime services ban in a bid to reduce the oil revenue that helps finance Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Any deal that could lift sanctions on Russia, the world’s second-biggest crude producer after the US, could increase the amount of oil available to global markets, weakening prices.
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