Economy
I’m Hopeful MPC Meeting Will Hold Next Week—Emefiele
By Dipo Olowookere
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has expressed optimism that the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for next week will hold as scheduled.
According to the MPC meeting calendar posted on the apex bank’s website, the meeting is expected to take place on Monday, January 22 and Tuesday, January 23, 2018, in Abuja.
There were fears that the MPC meeting will not take place as planned next week as a result of lack of quorum.
The committee comprises 12 members, but at the moment, eight positions are vacant the Senate, which is to screen and confirm nominees to fill the vacant positions, has refused to carry out this duty because of a face-off with the executive arm of government.
The MPC is headed by the CBN Governor, who is the chairman. Others in the committee are the four deputy governors of the apex bank; two members of the board of directors of the chief lender; three members appointed by the President; and two members appointed by the Governor.
But speaking in an interview in Abuja a moment ago, the central bank boss said he is “very hopeful” the next MPC meeting will take place at the planned dates despite the pending approval by parliament of some newly-appointed committee members.
“We are getting close to the MPC, but I can tell you that I’m optimistic that issues about the confirmation of our nominees are being dealt with,” he said.
The Senate resumed sitting on Tuesday and at the moment, matters concerning the confirmation of the committee members have not been debated.
Last week, a local paper quoted a Senator as saying that the position of the upper legislative chamber remained unchanged until the impasse regarding the nomination and non-confirmation of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, was resolved.
The lawmaker had also said that the Senate had resolved to seek legal interpretation of a comment made by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo that the position of the EFCC chairman does not require the confirmation of the Senate, as it was not specified in the constitution.
As a result of Mr Osinbajo’s remark, the Senate had resolved to suspend the confirmation process for all nominees of the president not specifically mentioned in the 1999 Constitution, but are provided for in the establishment Acts of several agencies of the federal government such as the CBN, FIRS, NCC, and others.
The source explained: “What we are saying is that there is a need to test this in court. Since the vice-president, who is a lawyer, can pronounce that Magu does not need Senate confirmation and that his nomination should not have been sent to us in the first instance, then we queried why that of the MPC members were sent to the Senate.
“After all, the appointment of MPC members is also not contained in the constitution. So why was it sent to us? If we decline confirmation, would the executive not still interpret it the way they have chosen to interpret the issue with Mr Magu?
“Just like the EFCC chairmanship, the members of the MPC are not mentioned in our constitution.”
In a related development, according to Bloomberg, Mr Emefiele also said at the meeting, the committee will likely not change the rates.
“I don’t think rates will change,” the CBN chief was quoted as saying, but was quick to add that the chief lender was making “very good progress” to bring the rates down.
Data released this week by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that inflation in the country slowed to 15.37 percent in December 2017 from 15.90 percent in November 2017.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was a good day for the stock market in Nigeria as it appreciated by 0.79 per cent on Friday to bring the year-to-date return to 0.66 per cent.
This was influenced by renewed interest across most of the sectors of the market, though the insurance index declined by 2.15 per cent when trading activities ended for the session.
Business Post reports that the banking counter appreciated by 1.97 per cent, the consumer goods space grew by 0.70 per cent, the industrial goods sector gained 0.09 per cent, and the energy counter closed flat.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 810.26 points to 103,598.46 points from the preceding day’s 102,788.20 points and the market capitalisation by N497 billion to N63.645 trillion from Thursday’s N63.148 trillion.
Chellaram was the biggest price gainer on Friday after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to trade at N4.07, Guinness Nigeria also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N77.00, SCOA Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N3.96, Transcorp Power jumped by 7.96 per cent to N349.80, and Lasaco Assurance went up by 7.19 per cent to N3.28.
Conversely, Neimeth was the biggest price loser as it shed 9.88 per cent to N3.10, John Holt declined by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, International Energy Insurance depleted by 9.74 per cent to N1.76, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 9.40 per cent to N1.06, and Austin Laz lost 9.00 per cent to close at N1.82.
As for the activity chart, a total of 576.4 million stocks valued at N9.0 billion in 11,546 deals compared with the 394.4 million stocks worth N22.8 billion traded in 12,160 deals in the preceding session, indicating a rise in the trading volume by 46.15 per cent, and a decline in the trading value and number of deals by 60.53 per cent and 5.05 per cent.
Secure Electronic Technology was the busiest equity with 202.2 million units worth N151.8 million, Nigerian Breweries traded 42.1 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Japaul exchanged 34.6 million units for N79.7 million, Access Holdings sold 32.2 million units valued at N807.0 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 17.0 million units worth N18.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.42 per cent gain on Friday, January 24 after three equities ended on the advancers’ chart at the close of business.
Nipco Plc gained N15.01 during the trading day to close at N165.11 per share versus N150.10 per share of the preceding session, Okitipupa Plc added N4.79 to end the session at N52.69 per unit compared with Thursday’s trading value of N47.90 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc expanded by 80 Kobo to trade at N24.00 per share, in contrast to the N23.30 per share it was sold a day earlier.
The gains recorded by these stocks pushed the value of the bourse higher by NN7.41 billion to N1.775 trillion from the N1.767 trillion recorded in the preceding session and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 6.93 points to wrap the session at 3,133.20 points compared with 3,120.13 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by 92 Kobo to end the session at N38.58 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N39.50 per share.
The volume of securities traded in the session decreased on Friday by 95.9 per cent to 16.3 million units from 407.4 million units, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 97.4 per cent to N10.2 million from N391.2 million units, and the number of deals declined by 23.3 per cent to 23 deals from 30 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was also the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its recent gaining spree by 1.12 per cent or N17.39 on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 24.
Yesterday, the local currency was traded in the official market at N1,531.20/$1 compared with the preceding trading day’s value of N1,548.59/$1.
The recent appreciation aligns with expectations that the Naira will appreciate in the first quarter of the year, backed by continued policy support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the latest being the launch of the FX Code due next week to enhance transparency in the market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on the last trading day of the week by N8.97 to quote at N1,903.24/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,912.21/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N8.72 to finish at N1,605.17/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,613.89/€1.
In the same vein, the domestic currency appreciated against the American Dollar in the parallel market yesterday to sell for N1,660/$1 compared with the N1,665/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
In the cryptocurrency market, there was profit-taking following earlier euphoria around US President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Stargate Project” announcement, which is a $500 billion commitment to enhancing the US AI infrastructure.
Crypto commentators believe this signals a shift toward reduced oversight with the pledge unveiled on Tuesday, bringing together tech giants OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank with an initial commitment of $100 billion, scaling to $500 billion over four years.
Solana (SOL) dipped by 4.9 per cent to trade at $247.14, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 2.8 per cent to $3,290.29, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 2.4 per cent to $0.3488, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 2.1 per cent to $0.9763.
Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.9 per cent to $3.11, Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 0.7 per cent to $687.71, and Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.6 per cent to $104,369.28, while Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $121.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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