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Economy

Investment Opportunities in FGN Savings Bond

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FGN Savings bond

By FSDH Research

Have you ever considered how much money you could create from that your little N5,000? And most times, a lot of people blow it off, by spending it on frivolities. An adage says ‘a little drop of water makes a mighty ocean’.

The Federal Government of Nigeria Savings Bond (FGNSB), just like a mutual fund, is an instrument the FGN uses to mobilize savings from low income earners for developmental purposes.

In return for investing money in the FGNSB, the FGN, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), pays interest (coupon) to the investor every 3 months.

In our previous report entitled ‘Policies to Increase National Disposable Income’, we noted that there is low savings in Nigeria compared with some other countries.

The culture of low savings is one of the reasons why the interest rate on loans is high in Nigeria. In order to increase national savings, more people need to be encouraged to save their money in addition to providing an enabling environment to create jobs so that more people can earn income from which they can save and invest.

Before the FGN introduced the Savings Bond in March 2017, the government had two major securities to borrow money from the Nigerian public: FGN Bonds and Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs).

The minimum amount required to invest in these two securities is now significantly higher than what most low-income earners can afford.

However, with the introduction of the FGNSB, which requires a minimum investment of N5,000, more people are able to invest part of their income and earn returns from it.

Although the FGNSB is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), allowing investors who need money before maturity to sell and receive cash, it is not actively traded on the NSE.

Therefore, mutual funds might be more attractive because investors may turn their investments into cash more easily than the FGNSB.

The DMO, on behalf of the FGN, issues the FGNSB on the first week of every month and it is open for 5 working days. In order to buy the FGNSB, the investor must approach a DMO-licensed stockbroker to act on his or her behalf.

The Savings Bond has the full support of the FGN and, as a result, returns are always paid regardless of the state of the economy.

Due to this, the FGNSB is one of the few types of financial investments in Nigeria that has minimal risk. This further shows that the FGNSB is a very good investment opportunity for low-income earners who do not want to expose their investment to excessive risk.

In addition, the FGNSB is also exempted from payment of all forms of taxes.

There are two different kinds of FGNSB: the one that takes 2 years before the principal is paid back to investors (known as the 2-year FGNSB) and the one that takes 3 years before the principal is paid back to investors (known as the 3-year FGNSB).

Fixed interests are paid once every 3 months (quarterly). Thus, for a 2-year FGNSB, interest is paid 8 times while interest is paid 12 times for a 3-year FGNSB. The average interest rates (coupon rates) on the 2-year and 3-year FGNSB are 11.20% and 12.20% respectively since inception, which are both higher than the savings account interest rate which is 4.13%.

Investment in FGNSB is another way to make your money work for you 24 hours a day non-stop, just the same way your investment in a mutual fund, which is managed by a professional fund manager, works for you 24 hours a day non-stop.

Our illustration shows that an investment of N100,000 in the FGNSB could grow to N1,582,382.48 in 25 years. This is possible if the interest earned and the maturing principal are reinvested at an interest rate of 11.20% annually payable every quarter.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Economy

Food Concepts Return NASD OTC Exchange to Danger Zone

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NASD OTC exchange

By Adedapo Adesanya

Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.

Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.

This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.

Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.

Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.

At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.

InfraCredit Plc also finished the session 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 traded for N524.9 million.

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Economy

Investors Gain N97bn from Local Equity Market

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Nigerian equity market

By Dipo Olowookere

The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.

This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.

UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.

On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.

Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.

Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.

A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.

This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.

For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.

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Economy

Naira Loses 18 Kobo Against Dollar at Official Market, N5 at Black Market

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forex Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.

At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.

It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.

Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.

Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.

Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.

“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.

Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.

Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.

If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.

Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.

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