Economy

Nigeria Suspends Plan to Borrow $22.7bn

Published

6 years ago

17/03/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

As the global economy continues to feel the effects of the coronavirus, the federal government has disclosed its plans to suspend the proposed borrowing $22.7 billion from external sources by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, made this announcement on Monday during this year’s International Conference on the Nigerian Commodities Market, organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Abuja.

The minister stated that the government would not go ahead with the borrowing programme even if it fully secures the approval of the National Assembly due to present economic realities.

Business Post reports that the Senate has passed the loan request, but the House of Representatives is yet to give President Buhari the authority to go ahead with the borrowing.

At the seminar yesterday, Mrs Ahmed explained that the decision to halt the development was taken because market indices do not support external borrowings at the moment.

“The parliament is still doing its work on the borrowing plan. One arm of the parliament has completed theirs and the other arm is still working and it is a process that is controlled by the parliament itself, so we are waiting.

“However, we are not going out immediately because the market indication is not in favour of external borrowing at this time. Even if we get approval, we will defer it and watch the market and go out only when the timing is right,” the Minister said.

She also said that current reality in the world impacted by the coronavirus and also the Saudi-Russia oil price war has brought the federal government face to face with the need to diversify more into the non-oil sector of the economy.

“Several national plans, programmes and projects have been directed at diversifying the production and revenue structures of the economy,” she said.

She stressed that there was need to do more to boost production and expand the country’s exports base which is less vulnerable to external shocks and provides more opportunities to the country’s teeming population.

According to her, the federal government plans to prioritise expenditure in favour of major capital expenditures that would have greater impact, which would create job and visibility and also enhance the ease of doing business in the country.

The Minister further noted that expenditures that are not critical must be deferred to a later date when things become more normal.

The plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to borrow the $22.7 billion to support the country’s budget deficits had been met with a lot of criticisms and opposition from Nigerians, who opined that it would only worsen the country’s debt portfolio.

Economy

11 Plc, FrieslandCampina, CSCS Lift NASD Exchange by 1.38%

Published

1 day ago

04/07/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three securities lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.38 per cent on Friday, July 3, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 58.80 points to 4,307.26 points from 4,248.46 points, and the market capitalisation closing higher by N35.30 billion to N2.585 trillion from N2.549 trillion.

The price gainers were led by 11 Plc, which expanded by N20.05 to close at N220.55 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N5.36 to N151.82 per unit from N146.46 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N3.52 to N90.74 per share from N87.22 per share.

Yesterday, the value of transactions surged by 1,431.2 per cent to N160.1 million from the preceding session’s N10.5 million, and the volume of trades rose by 303.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 440,653 units, while the number of deals decreased by 34.4 per cent to 21 deals from 32 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.

GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Rebound by 2.19% to Halt Losing Streak

Published

1 day ago

04/07/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The losing streak on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was halted on Friday after the bourse closed higher by 2.19 per cent at the close of trading activities.

The gains reported by Nigerian stocks were buoyed by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, which resulted in all the key sectors of Customs Street ended in the green territory.

The banking space rose by 2.78 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, the energy segment expanded by 0.36 per cent, the consumer goods index chalked up 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods sector grew by 0.05 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 4,918.37 points to 229,240.34 points from 224,321.97 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N3.156 trillion to N147.103 trillion from N143.947 trillion.

Investor sentiment was bullish after 34 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index.

The quintet of The Initiates, Universal Insurance, DAAR Communications, Omatek, and Airtel Africa surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.85, 88 Kobo, N1.65, N1.76, and N5,274.00, respectively.

On the flip side, International Energy Insurance lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.70, Meyer shed 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, Veritas Kapital dropped 5.07 per cent to finish at N1.31, Fidelity Bank slipped by 2.17 per cent to N18.00, and Jaiz Bank crashed by 1.84 per cent to N28.12.

During the session, a total of 414.7 million equities worth N25.1 billion exchanged hands in 47,106 deals compared with the 855.4 million equities valued at N28.4 billion transacted in the preceding day in 51,609 deals, implying a contraction in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 51.52 per cent, 11.62 per cent, and 8.73 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Naira Trades Flat at Official Market as CBN Makes Minimal FX Intervention

Published

1 day ago

04/07/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira closed flat against the United States Dollar at N1,370.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 3.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N2.29 to settle at N1,829.88/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,832.17/£1, and marginally depreciated against the Euro by 4 Kobo to close at N1,568.32/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,568.28/€1.

At the parallel market, the Naira also traded flat against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it also maintained stability at N1,832/$1.

Market conditions improved shortly after the following minimal intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through modest Dollar sales, which boosted liquidity and supported stronger trading activity.

Easing pressure came after half-year profit-taking tapered down, while continued stronger policy signals from the central bank add to near-term support.

Deals executed at the official market on Friday came in at $70.430 million across 82 interbank deals, from $85.517 million the previous day.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its recovery after June non-farm payrolls printed at 57,000, less than half the 113,000 consensus, sending the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate hike from 64 per cent to 54 per cent and dragging AI stocks sharply lower.

Weak labour data reduces inflationary pressure and, by extension, the Federal Reserve’s justification for holding rates elevated. That transmission mechanism is direct: lower rate-hike odds compress the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like crypto.

Bitcoin regained the $62,000 mark after it rose by 1.3 per cent to $62,475.29.

Cardano (ADA) gained 6.6 per cent to trade at $0.1759, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.14, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 2.4 per cent to $1,756.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.1 per cent to $0.0768, Solana (SOL) chalked up 1.8 per cent to $82.65, TRON (TRX) increased by 1.5 per cent to $0.3235, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $569.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.