Economy

Inflation to Drop to 11.32% in June on Base Effect—FSDH

Published

7 years ago

08/07/2019

Modupe Gbadeyanka

For the past two straight months, inflation rate in Nigeria has been trending upward, but if what analysts at FSDH Research foresee is something to take seriously, then a downward movement of the rate should be expected when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) releases the figures for the month of June 2019 on Sunday, July 14, 2019.

In May 2019, inflation jumped to 11.40 percent, but FSDH Research said it expects this to drop to 11.32 percent in June 2019, attributing this on base effect.

The investment firm said even though prices of the consumer items increased in June 2019, they were at a slower rate between May and June 2019 than the rate of increase between May and June 2018.

It said the price monitor conducted on food and non-food items shows prices moved in varying directions in June compared with May. While the prices of some consumer goods increased faster in June compared with May 2019, the prices of a few consumer goods increased slower in June than in May.

“Our preliminary investigations show that the local prices of imported goods increased marginally in June over May because of the exchange rate adjustment on import duties. However, the marginal increase was not enough to accelerate the inflation rate.

“The Food Price Index that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations published for the month of June 2019, shows that the prices of dairy products and oils declined significantly.

“The prices of meat, cereals and sugar, however, increased on the international market. Most of the decreases recorded on the international market were mainly as a result of increased export availabilities and limited import demand.

‘FSDH Research believes that the inflation rate will trend downwards barring any increase in the

electricity tariffs and pump price of Premium Motor Spirit.

“At the current inflation rate and given the desire of the CBN to maintain positive real yield on fixed income securities, FSDH Research believes the issuance of Commercial Papers (CPs) are attractive to corporate bodies.

“The high appetite that investors have for debt securities in the Nigerian financial market at the moment will ensure success of quality debt issuance.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria however, has to play its role to ensure infrastructure development, in particular an appropriate transport network, reliable electricity supply and security of lives and property. With these in place, the road to single-digit inflation rate will be smooth,” the Lagos-based company said.

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is targeting single-digit inflation rate for the Nigerian economy, reiterating the desire to achieve that target in the five-year plan it released a few weeks ago.

“In other words, any inflation rate in double-digit is considered high in our view. Given recent developments in the country, particularly in the agricultural sector, and farmers’ inability to move their produce to the market efficiently, it may be difficult to achieve a single-digit inflation rate in 2019.

“While the CBN is deploying strategies to influence the amount of money in circulation in a manner that will not be inflationary, we believe there are other key causes of high inflation in Nigeria which the CBN’s current policy may not be able to address,” it said.

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Closes Lower for Fifth Consecutive Day

Published

14 hours ago

24/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange suffered its fifth decline for this week on Friday after it closed lower by 0.09 per cent, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 8.91 points to 3,639.10 points from 3,642.22 points and the market capitalisation declining by N1.86 billion to end N2.177 trillion compared with the previous day’s N2.179 trillion.

Yesterday, the bourse recorded three price losers led by NASD Plc, which crumbled by N4.00 to close at N55.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N59.00 per share, as FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by 68 Kobo to N66.23 per unit from Thursday’s closing price of N66.91 per unit, as Mass Telecom Innovation Plc lost 4 Kobo to end at 40 Kobo per share versus the preceding day’s 44 Kobo per share.

On the flip side, there were two price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which added 21 Kobo to close at N40.81 per unit compared with the previous session’s N40.60 per share and UBN Property Plc, which improved by 10 Kobo to N2.09 per share from N1.99 per share.

During the session, the level of activity increased as the the volume of transactions surged by 255.7 per cent to 10.2 million units from 2.9 million units, the value of trades soared by 122.0 per cent to N189.5 million from N85.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 22.5 per cent to 49 deals from the previous day’s 40 deals.

When the bourse ended for the day, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 10.5 million units worth N427.7 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 893,553 units traded for N60.1 million, and MRS Oil Plc with 291,801 units valued at N58.3 million.

However, CSCS Plc took over as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 10.5 million units old for N427.7 million, as Geo-Fluids Plc slipped to second place with 7.7 million units worth N52.4 million, and Mass Telecom Innovation Plc occupied the third spot with 6.2 million units transacted for N2.5 million.

Economy

Naira Value Improves to N1,421/$1 at Official Market

Published

14 hours ago

24/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 44 Kobo or 0.03 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, January 24 to sell for N1,421.63/$1 compared with the N1,422.07/$1 it was traded on Thursday.

This was buoyed by increased FX inflows from exporters as well as sustained Dollar volume from non-bank corporate, individual and other sources.

However, the Naira lost N15.61 against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday to quote at N1,924.17/£1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,908.56/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N3.60 to finish at N1,669.56/€1 versus the N1,665.96/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency traded flat against its American counterpart at N1,430/$1, and also maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market segment during the session at N1,485/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market took a hit as slowdown occurred, explained by large holders taking profits.

The market had seen a short lived boost after Japanese intervention sent the Yen surging against the US Dollar, a move some saw as a necessary step toward resuming a bull market in crypto.

However, investors took profit with Dogecoin (DOGE) down by 0.8 per cent to $0.1240, and Cardano (ADA) down by 0.7 per cent to $0.3585.

Further, Solana (SOL) dropped 0.6 per cent to sell at $126.89, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 0.5 per cent to $68.42, and Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 0.1 per cent to $890.13.

But, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $1.91, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.3 per cent to $2,953.72, and Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.1 per cent to $89,477.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

House of Reps Minority Caucus Identifies Alterations in Gazetted Tax Laws

Published

14 hours ago

24/01/2026

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The House of Representatives Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws on the Allegations of Illegal Alterations on the Gazetted Tax Laws has released an interim report on its findings, accusing the executive arm of government of removing and inserting some items in the bills passed by the parliament.

The chairman of the 7-man panel, Mr Afam Victor Ogene, in the report released on Friday, said the laws were altered after they were transmitted to the executive by the National Assembly for assent by President Bola Tinubu.

Recall that a member of the green chamber of the parliament, Mr Abdulsamad Dasuki, raised an alarm on the discrepancies in the gazetted version and the one passed by the legislative arm of government.

The Minority Caucus of the House of Reps, headed by Mr Kingsley Chinda, in a statement on December 28, 2025, vowed to “unconditionally protect the independence of the legislature and our democracy.”

It then constituted the committee on January 2, 2026, to get to the roots of all the issues surrounding the scandal.

The next day, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, through its spokesman, Mr Akintunde Rotimi, released a statement announcing that the Speaker, Mr Abbas Tajudeen, had directed the release of the four tax reform Acts; The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; The Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; The National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025, duly signed into law by the President, for public record, verification, and reference.

The statement further added that the Speaker has also ordered an internal verification and immediate public release of the Certified Acts to eliminate doubts, restore clarity, and protect the sanctity of the legislature.

In its report yesterday, the panel said it discovered some alterations in the gazetted version, noting that, “given the anomalies, illegalities, and impunity observed, which clearly undermine the National Assembly’s constitutional powers and democracy, the committee finds the current evidence sufficient to warrant a deeper investigation. This will ensure accountability for the affront against the legislature.”

“To achieve this, the committee respectfully requests an extension to conduct a more thorough examination of the matter,” it added.