Economy
Nigeria’s September Inflation Jumps to 11.24% as Food Prices Rise
By Adedapo Adesanya
The headline inflation rate in Nigeria increased to 11.24 percent (year-on-year) in September 2019 from the 11.02 percent it recorded in August 2019, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed on Tuesday.
Business Post reports that the inflation jumped by this higher margin as the effect of the border closure by federal government as well as stringent economic policies continue to bite hard on the nation, causing prices of goods and food items to rise at the market.
According to the stats office, the consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, rose in the period under review by 0.22 percent when compared with the previous month.
The border closure, which did not reflect much in the August figures because it was only captured for 11 days during the 31 days reference period, heavily impacted on the September figures.
In the report released this morning, the bureau noted that increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.
On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.04 percent in September 2019, which is 0.05 points higher than the rate recorded in August 2019 at 0.99 percent.
The data showed that the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending September 2019 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 11.268 percent, showing 0.003 percent point from 11.271 percent recorded in August 2019.
Increases also reflected in both urban and rural inflation as urban inflation rate increased by 11.78 percent (year-on-year) in September 2019 from 11.48 percent recorded in August 2019, while the rural inflation rate increased by 10.77 percent in September 2019 from 10.61 percent in August 2019.
On a month-on-month basis, urban index rose by 1.13 percent in September 2019, indicating a 0.09 rise compared to 1.04 percent recorded in August 2019, while the rural index also rose by 0.96 percent in September 2019, up by 0.03 from the 0.93 percent recorded in August 2019.
The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 11.63 percent in September 2019 which is higher than 11.62 percent reported in August 2019, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in September 2019 is 10.94 percent compared to 10.95 percent recorded in the previous month.
The data indicated that price of food such as bread and cereals, oils and fats, meat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish and vegetables all recorded increases in prices.
According to the NBS, the composite food index rose by 13.51 percent in September 2019 from 13.17 percent in August 2019.
It was stated that this rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Oils and fats, Meat, Potatoes, Yam and other tubers, Fish and Vegetables.
On month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.30 percent in September 2019, up by 0.08 percent points from 1.22 percent recorded in August 2019.
The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending September 2019 over the previous twelve-month average was 13.47 percent, 0.01 percent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2019 (13.46) percent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Pressure further mounted on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, making its value to shrink against the United States Dollar at the close of business.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the domestic currency crashed against its American counterpart during the session by 0.18 per cent or N2.73 to settle at N1,552.78/$1, in contrast to Monday’s closing price of N1,550.05/1.
But against the Pound Sterling and the Euro, the local currency traded flat in the official market yesterday at N1,906.98/£1 and N1,613.48/€1, respectively.
As for the black market segment, the Naira weakened against the Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to sell for N1,670/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N1,665/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market heaved a sigh of relief during the session as President Donald Trump created a crypto task force dedicated to “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”
The task force will be led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, a long-time advocate for the crypto industry, and will work closely with the crypto industry to develop regulations. This is after Mr Gary Gensler, an opponent of crypto, officially stepped down as chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after Mr Trump’s term started.
The task force will also work with Congress, providing “technical assistance” as it crafts crypto regulations.
Solana (SOL) recorded a 9.2 per cent growth to sell at $257.09, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 7.6 per cent to $0.36789, Ripple (XRP) added 4.0 per cent to finish at $3.18, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 3.7 per cent to $105,515.03.
Further, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 2.8 per cent to close at $699.01, Cardano jumped by 2.1 per cent to trade at $0.9972, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 2.0 per cent to settle at $3,308.21, and Litecoin (LTC) went up by 1.5 per cent to end at $116.72, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The price of the Brent crude oil grade went below the $80 mark on Tuesday after it shed 86 cents or 1.1 per cent to trade at $79.29 per barrel after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, signaled the possibility of his country boosting its oil production.
This move raised concerns of higher US output in a market widely expected to be oversupplied this year, with the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures falling by $1.99 or 2.6 per cent during the session to $75.89 per barrel.
On his first day in office, the US President signed an executive order to unleash America’s energy by easing the barriers to oil and gas extraction and production and revoking a series of climate orders by former President Joe Biden.
As pledged in the campaign, the executive order follows the declaration of a national energy emergency.
The declaration includes measures to expedite energy infrastructure delivery, and emergency approvals by agencies “to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”
This will likely confirm expectations that the oil market will be oversupplied this year after weak economic activity and energy transition efforts weighed heavily on demand in top-consuming nations the US and China.
President Trump also said he was considering imposing 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico from February 1, rather than on his first day in office as promised.
The delay helped ease concerns of an immediate tightening of the market among US refiners, many of which are geared to process the type of crude oil supplied by these countries.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reiterated on Tuesday its expectations for oil prices to decline both this year and next.
On its part, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) projects robust demand growth in the world both this year and next.
In 2025, OPEC says demand is set to grow by 1.4 million barrels per day leaving its projection unchanged from the December report.
However, losses were also limited after the US president said his administration would “probably” stop buying oil from Venezuela. The U.S. is the second-biggest buyer of Venezuelan oil after China.
Also weighing on prices on Tuesday was the potential end to the shipping disruption in the Red Sea.
Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday they will limit their attacks on commercial vessels to Israel-linked ships provided the Gaza ceasefire is fully implemented.
By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied on Tuesday by 0.75 per cent after investors intensified their demand for local stocks.
It was a tough battle between the bulls and the bears during the session, but the former overcame by a whisker after the bourse recorded 29 appreciating equities and 28 depreciating equities, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The growth posted by Customs Street yesterday could be attributed to the appetite for MTN Nigeria shares, which chalked up 10.00 per cent to settle at N256.30.
SCOA Nigeria appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N2.99, Omatek grew by 9.88 per cent to 89 Kobo, Universal Insurance rose by 8.70 per cent to 75 Kobo, and CAP gained 8.52 per cent to trade at N47.75.
Conversely, Secure Electronic Technology lost 9.88 per cent to quote at 73 Kobo, Abbey Mortgage Bank declined by 9.09 per cent to N3.30, Sunu Assurances tumbled by 8.21 per cent to N6.15, Deap Capital slumped by 7.08 per cent to N1.05, and C&I Leasing depreciated by 6.82 per cent to N4.10.
A total of 440.3 million equities valued at N12.0 billion exchanged hands in 13,087 deals compared with the 1.3 billion equities worth N17.7 billion transacted in 13,891 deals on Monday, representing a decline in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 66.79 per cent, 32.20 per cent and 5.79 per cent, respectively.
Lasaco Assurance ended the session as the most traded stock after it sold 108.1 million units valued at N338.7 million, Access Holdings traded 44.0 million units for N1.1 billion, UBA exchanged 27.9 million units worth N945.7 million, Zenith Bank transacted 26.7 million units for N1.3 billion, and Universal Insurance traded 22.7 million units valued at N16.7 million.
On Tuesday, the insurance, banking and industrial goods sectors jumped by 1.03 per cent, 0.30 per cent, and 0.03 per cent, respectively, and the consumer goods and energy counters lost 0.38 per cent and 0.36 per cent apiece.
The All-Share Index (ASI) went up yesterday by 767.63 points to 103,137.99 points from 102,370.36 points and the market capitalisation increased by N472 billion to N63.333 trillion from N62.861 trillion.
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