Economy
Naira Gains N1.25 on US Dollar at Spot Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira strengthened against the US Dollar as it soared by N1.25 or 0.30 per cent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Friday, June 10.
At the specialised window, where investors source FX for approved needs, the local currency was exchanged at N421.25 compared with the previous day’s N422.50/$1.
This happened on the back of a 31.6 per cent or $48.6 million reduction in the value of forex trades at the spot market during the session. Transactions worth $105.11 million were carried out during the session compared with the $153.71 million achieved in the preceding day.
However, the Naira depreciated at the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment of the FX market yesterday as it lost N1 against the Dollar to settle at N616/$1 versus N615/$1 on Thursday.
In the interbank window, the local currency traded flat against the Pound Sterling at N521.49/£ and recorded the same outcome against the Euro as it remained unchanged at N446.39/€1.
At the cryptocurrency market, the majority of the tokens monitored by Business Post closed bearish on Friday, following the increase in the inflation rate in the United States by 1.0 per cent.
The data, which was released yesterday, suggests that the US Federal Reserve, its equivalent of a central bank, could continue with its 50 basis points interest rate hikes through the next three months.
These fears weakened the TerraUSD (UST) further by 8.2 per cent to $0.0099 as Solana (SOL) went down 8.2 per cent to trade at $37.22, with Ethereum (ETH) losing 6.8 per cent to sell at $1,670.06.
In addition, Cardano (ADA) fell by 6.7 per cent to $0.5898, Ripple (XRP) recorded a 5.3 per cent fall to trade at $0.3853, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 4.6 per cent to trade at $57.25, Dogecoin (DOGE) saw a 4.2 per cent slump to trade at $0.0760, Bitcoin (BTC) retreated by 2.7 per cent to $29,285.07, while Binance Coin (BNB) recorded a 1.3 per cent loss to sell at $287.98.
The US Dollar Tether (USDT) was the only gainer as it moved higher by 0.01 per cent to settle at $0.9993.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
