Economy
FMDQ Unveils Rate for Special Forex Window
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A reference exchange rate for the newly introduced special foreign exchange window for investors and exporters by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been introduced by the Financial Market Dealers Quote (FMDQ).
FMDQ said on Monday that the reference rate would be published 12 noon every day via three packages: live fix available at 12:00 noon daily via the FMDQ e-Markets Portal; delayed (24 hours) published via the FMDQ website; and historical, available via the FMDQ e-Markets Portal.
The newly introduced reference exchange rate is called the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing (NAFEX).
Last week, the central bank introduced a special foreign exchange window for investors and exporters aimed to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market and ensure timely execution and settlement for eligible transactions.
According to FMDQ, NAFEX will NAFEX will “benefit the Nigerian economy in general and the financial industry in particular in a number of ways, including serving as a fixing for the settlement of FX derivatives, promoting transparency and awareness of USD/NGN rates, enabling foreign and local investors benefit from a market-driven independent reference rate and increasing forward contracts usage towards a reduction of investments in currency principals and foreign currency line utilisation.
Other benefits include developing hedge products and derivatives, thus improving the standard of the Nigerian FX market, providing growth and income potentials for market players through the trading of hedging products, and serving as a benchmark for portfolio valuations, conversions, performance measurement and audits.
Explaining the fixing methodology, FMDQ stated that the NAFEX Spot Rates “shall be determined as detailed below and contributing banks shall be expected to submit only ‘professional spot quotes’.
“Where a contributing bank submits an unprofessional quote, such a quote will automatically be disqualified from the NAFEX computation. Contributing banks shall quote single rates for transaction sizes of $5 million and above or as advised by FMDQ, at the time of the poll.”
It stated further that, the polled rate would be based on the “submissions of 10 contributing banks and calculated using a trimmed arithmetic mean.
“Upon receipt of quotes, the individual contributing banks’ submission is ranked in descending order. The lowest and highest two quotes are eliminated from the ranked rates leaving only the middle six rates.
“The arithmetic mean of the remaining rates is then calculated to two decimal places and disseminated as the NAFEX Spot Rate.”
”Where FMDQ receives fewer than the required number of submissions by the time NAFEX is due for publication, the reduced submissions methodology detailed below shall apply:
“NAFEX will be published provided that two (2) or more quotes are obtained on a daily basis
“The calculation methodology shall remain the same irrespective of the number of submissions received. However, under the reduced submissions methodology, the number of submissions excluded on the high and the low side (‘topped and tailed’) shall apply,” it explained further.
FMDQ stated also said, “In instances where there are quotes below the documented threshold, the previous day’s NAFEX shall be maintained and published as the current NAFEX.
“In circumstances of a force majeure event, leading to the unavailability of quotes in the market, the previous day’s NAFEX will be maintained and published as the current NAFEX.
“Any republished rates from the previous business day shall be identified as such on the FMDQ e-Markets Portal.
“After five consecutive business days of republishing the previous day’s NAFEX (in this case, the NAFEX of 5 business days prior), an FMDQ Market Review Committee meeting shall be convened in a special session to devise a strategy for the appropriate determination of future NAFEX during the extreme market condition, towards preserving the continuity of the NAFEX publication.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government has been asked by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend the implementation of the controversial tax laws.
In a reaction to the tax reform acts, the president of the group, Mr Afam Osigwe (SAN), the suspension of the laws would allow for a proper investigation into allegations of alterations in the gazetted and harmonised copies.
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that some parts of the laws passed by the parliament were different from the gazetted copy.
To address the issues raised, the NBA said it is “imperative that a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.”
“Until these issues are fully examined and resolved, all plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended,” the association declared.
It noted that the controversies “raise grave concerns about the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process.”
“These developments strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend lawmaking in a democratic society,” it noted.
“Legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude has far-reaching consequences. It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law. Such uncertainty is inimical to economic stability and should have no place in a system governed by the rule of law.
“Nigeria’s constitutional democracy demands that laws, especially those with profound economic and social implications, emerge from processes that are transparent, accountable, and beyond reproach. Anything short of this undermines public trust and weakens the foundation upon which lawful governance rests.
“We therefore call on all relevant authorities to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this controversy, in the overriding interest of constitutional order, economic stability, and the preservation of the rule of law,” the organisation stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.
The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.
Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.
Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.
The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.
By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.
The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.
Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.
Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.
At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.
VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.
In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.
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