Economy
July Inflation Rate to Drop to 15.96%—FSDH
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Analysts at FSDH Research has predicted that inflation rate in July 2017 will fall to 15.96 percent from 16.10 percent recorded in June 2017.
In its latest report titled ‘Inflation Watch’, FSDH noted that “although the inflation rate (year-on-year) dropped consistently between January and June 2017 due to the impact of the base effect in the prior year, we note that inflationary pressure persists.”
It said the expected decrease in the inflation rate is largely attributed to the downward movement in some categories of non-food items in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket, as well as decreases in some major food prices.
“Based on the data release calendar on the website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), we expect the NBS to release the inflation rate for the month of July 2017 on August 16, 2017,” it said.
The monthly Food Price Index (FPI) that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released yesterday indicates that the Index averaged 179 points in July 2017, 2.24 percent higher than the June value, and the third consecutive month of increase.
According to the FAO, the increase in the value of the Index in July was majorly due to the supply constraints and currency movements in the prices of items such as cereals, sugar and dairy.
The sharp increase in the FAO Sugar Price Index (up 5.19 percent) from June 2017 is mainly attributable to the strong appreciation of the Brazilian Real.
The FAO Cereal Price Index was up 5.14 percent in July 2017 mainly due to the appreciation in the price of wheat and rice.
The FAO Dairy Price Index appreciated by 3.63 percent in July 2017. The prices of most dairy products which include whole milk powders, cheese and butter appreciated during the period.
Meanwhile, the price of skimmed milk powder declined. On the flip side, the FAO Meat Index was down by 0.08 percent largely unchanged from June figure.
The price increases in ovine meat was offset by the downward price movement in bovine, pig and poultry. The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index was down by 1.10 percent, driven by falling quotations for palm oil.
FSDH said its analysis indicates that the value of the Naira appreciated at both the inter-bank and parallel markets.
The Naira gained 0.08 percent to close at N305.65/$ at the inter-bank market while it gained 1.09 percent to close at N367/$ at the parallel market at the end of July 2017.
The appreciation in the value of the Naira should reduce the pass-through effect of the increase in the prices of food at the international market on domestic prices.
“The prices of most of the food items we monitored in July 2017 moderated while a few items recorded price appreciation.
“The movement in the prices of food items during the month resulted in 1.25 percent increase in our
Food and Non-Alcoholic Index to 248.20 points. We noticed increase in the prices of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels divisions between June 2017 and July 2017.
“Our model indicates that the general price movements in the consumer goods and services in July 2017 would increase the Composite Consumer Price Index (CCPI) to 236.83 points, representing a month-on-month increase of 1.13 percent.
“We estimate that the increase in the CCPI in July 2017 would produce an inflation rate of 15.96 percent lower than the 16.10 percent recorded in June 2017,” the report said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has once again trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts.
The bloc made this in its latest monthly oil market report for December 2024.
The 2024 world oil demand growth forecast is now put at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previous 1.82 million barrels per day.
For 2025, OPEC says the world oil demand growth forecast is now at 1.45 million barrels per day, which is 900,000 barrels per day lower than the 1.54 million barrels per day earlier quoted.
On the changes, the group said that the downgrade for this year owes to more bearish data received in the third quarter of 2024 while the projections for next year relate to the potential impact that will arise from US tariffs.
The oil cartel had kept the 2024 outlook unchanged until August, a view it had first taken in July 2023.
OPEC and its wider group of allies known as OPEC+ earlier this month delayed its plan to start raising output until April 2025 against a backdrop of falling prices.
Eight OPEC+ member countries – Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman – decided to extend additional crude oil production cuts adopted in April 2023 and November 2023, due to weak demand and booming production outside the group.
In April 2023, these OPEC+ countries decided to reduce their oil production by over 1.65 million barrels per day as of May 2023 until the end of 2023. These production cuts were later extended to the end of 2024 and will now be extended until the end of December 2026.
In addition, in November 2023, these producers had agreed to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024, in order to support prices and stabilise the market.
These additional production cuts were extended to the end of 2024 and will now be extended to the end of March 2025; they will then be gradually phased out on a monthly basis until the end of September 2026.
Members have made a series of deep output cuts since late 2022.
They are currently cutting output by a total of 5.86 million barrels per day, or about 5.7 per cent of global demand. Russia also announced plans to reduce its production by an extra 471,000 barrels per day in June 2024.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A minority equity stake in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited has been acquired by a Nigerian energy firm, Aradel Holdings Plc.
This deal came a few days after Chappal Energies purchased a 53.85 per cent equity stake in Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited (ENEC).
Chappal Energies went into the deal with Equinor to take part in the oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitised 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron.
Since production started in 2008, the Agbami field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, creating value for Nigerian society and various stakeholders.
As part of the deal, Chappal will assume the operatorship of OML 129, which includes several significant prospects and undeveloped discoveries (Nnwa, Bilah and Sehki).
The Nnwa discovery is part of the giant Nnwa-Doro field, a major gas resource with significant potential to deliver value for Nigeria.
In a separate transaction, on July 17, 2024, Chappal and Total Energies sealed an SPA for the acquisition by Chappal of 10 per cent of the SPDC JV.
The relevant parties to this transaction are working towards closing out this transaction and Ministerial Approval and NNPC consent to accede to the Joint Operating Agreement have been obtained.
“This acquisition is in line with diversifying our asset base, deepening our gas competencies and gaining access to offshore basins using low-risk approaches.
“We recognise the strategic role of gas in Nigeria’s energy future and are happy to expand our equity holding in this critical resource.
“We are committed to the cause of developing the significant value inherent in the assets, which will be extremely beneficial to the country.
“Aradel hopes to bring its proven execution competencies to bear in supporting Chappal’s development of these opportunities,” the chief executive of Aradel Holdings, Mr Adegbite Falade, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.
As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.
But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.
The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.
During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.
However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
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