Economy
Osun Governor Presents 2019 Budget to Parliament
By Dipo Olowookere
Governor of Osun State, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, has presented a budget estimate of N152.7 billion to the state House of Assembly, lower than the N179.2 billion budgeted for the 2018 financial year.
Presenting the 2019 budget proposal to the parliament on Thursday, his first, Mr Oyetola said priority would be given to agriculture, healthcare and provision of water in the rural communities in the state.
According to him, the Budget of Hope is aimed at building on the giant strides of the immediate past administration Mr Rauf Aregbesola.
He said capital projects will take 65 percent of the total expenditure, amounting to N91.5 billion, while education has 11.36 percent, representing N10.4 billion.
Speaking on how his administration plans to generate the revenue for the year, Mr Oyetola said the state is expecting an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N36 billion at a minimum N3 billion per month of the projected total revenue of N150 billion, with the remaining coming from other sources including the Federation Account, grants, aids, investment and others.
The Governor said the era of payment of modulated salaries and allowances and other benefits was over, adding that workers and pensioners were now collecting their full salaries.
On education, he said, “We shall review the school curriculum to achieve value reorientation and to create a sense of worth belonging in our youths. Consequently, History shall be re-introduced in our secondary schools while Civic Education shall be expanded to incorporate the Omoluabi ethos.
“Focused-attention shall also be given to technical and vocational education to inculcate relevant skills for the youth to make them job creators rather than job seekers.
“Our Administration remains irrevocably committed to the joint ownership and co-funding of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso and the College of Health Sciences, Osogbo with the Oyo State Government.”
On healthcare, emphasis will be on Health insurance “to provide effective, quality and affordable services to all and sundry.”
The Health Insurance is a contributory scheme in which the government will pay three percent while the worker will contribute 1.5 percent.
There is also a plan to revitalise and equip 332 Primary Health Care (PHC) centres – one in each ward – and 57 secondary health care centres across the three senatorial districts.
The Ede Headworks water scheme is to be rehabilitated to enhance supply of portable water to at least 12 local government areas.
The Ilesa water project whose work restarted with the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari, is to get full attention.
“Given the committed leadership this administration is bringing to the table, and the unwavering following, we have been getting from the citizenry, the state of Osun is poised to set the pace in economic independence.
“We shall put strategic in place to further promote food security, employment and create wealth by investing heavily in agriculture, mining, infrastructure, commerce and industry, education and technology.
“We shall also introduce creative and prudent management of our resources, block leakages, and eliminate wastages. We will assemble the brightest of the best minds to drive our policies as we are committed to provide equitable opportunities and people-oriented governance.
“We are committed to consolidating on the various ongoing projects and programmes by delivering on the continuous investment in education, healthcare and social welfare, unwavering attention to security of lives and property, people-oriented and good governance system that founded on zero tolerance for corruption,” the Governor told the lawmakers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Okitipupa Plc was the sole price gainer at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, August 7, lifting the trading platform by 0.44 per cent at the close of transactions.
The share price of the palm oil producer appreciated during the trading session by N25.00 or 9.0 per cent to N277.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N252.00 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation gained N12.29 billion to close at N2,807 trillion, in contrast to the previous session’s N2.795 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) added 93.63 points to finish at 4,678.08 points compared with Thursday’s 4,657.59 points.
The bourse recorded a price loser yesterday, and this was Mass Telecoms Innovation Plc, which crashed by 3 Kobo or 9.4 per cent to settle at 32 Kobo per share versus the previous day’s 35 Kobo per share.
The volume of securities traded by investors plunged by 81.5 per cent to 535,7560 units from 2.9 million units, the value of securities slumped by 93.9 per cent to N6.0 million from N99.2 million, and the number of deals decreased by 41.9 per cent to 36 deals from 62 deals.
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 transacted for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 77.0 million units exchanged for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.15 per cent growth was achieved by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, driven by continued buying interest in banking stocks such as First Holdco and others.
The banking index was up by 1.53 per cent during the session, offsetting the losses recorded by the others. The industrial goods segment fell by 0.37 per cent, the insurance counter shrank by 0.21 per cent, and the energy sector contracted by 0.04 per cent, while the consumer goods space closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 364.26 points to 245,573.60 points from 245,209.34 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N235 billion to N158.513 trillion from N158.278 trillion.
Despite the gains printed by Customs Street during the trading day, investor sentiment was weak, as there were 22 price gainers and 24 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UPDC surged by 9.23 per cent to N3.55, CWG soared by 6.56 per cent to N19.50, AXA Mansard appreciated by 4.80 per cent to N13.10, Neimeth advanced by 4.24 per cent to N8.60, and Cutix improved by 4.00 per cent to N2.60.
Conversely, Red Star Express lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N18.00, CAP declined by 9.98 per cent to N115.45, John Holt shrank by 9.82 per cent to N10.10, ABC Transport depreciated by 9.57 per cent to N5.20, and Legend Internet crashed by 8.70 per cent to N4.20.
A total of 1.5 billion equities worth N26.7 billion exchanged hands in 42,580 deals on Friday versus the 531.8 million equities valued at N20.5 billion traded in 44,826 deals on Thursday, representing a spike in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 182.06 per cent, 30.24 per cent, and 5.01 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock during the session was Fortis Global Insurance, with a turnover of 824.5 million units valued at N2.1 billion, FCMB traded 217.9 million units worth N2.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 176.2 million units for N4.7 billion, Chams sold 32.5 million units worth N132.1 million, and First Holdco transacted 25.0 million units valued at N3.7 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further closed south against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, August 7, by 81 Kobo or 0.06 per cent to N1,365.69/$1 from N1,364.88/$1.
It was a similar situation for the Nigerian Naira in the official market during the session as against the Pound Sterling; it lost N1.08 to quote at N1,839.17 versus the previous day’s N1,838.09/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N1.23 to close at N1,575.73/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,574.80/€1.
Further, at the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency weakened against the Dollar yesterday by N2 to settle at N1,371/$1 compared with Thursday’s N1,369/$1, and at the black market, it traded flat at N1,400/$1.
The country’s legal tender came under FX demand pressure on Friday, with turnover rising by 304.3 per cent to $399.5 million from $98.8 million the previous day, with the number of deals slightly up to 107 from 106.
Next week, traders expect the Naira to hold steady, buoyed by dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), whose presence in the market could help ease demand pressure.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) neared the $65,000-mark after it gained 0.8 per cent to trade at $64,968.05, as investors took advantage of recent drops to shore up their holdings.
Previously, the decision by the US Senate to delay a vote on the Crypto Clarity Act until at least September weakened the outlook. The bill, which would set out which US regulator oversees which digital assets, needs 60 votes to pass and it is unclear whether it currently has 50.
Solana (SOL) grew by 2.5 per cent to $74.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 1.3 per cent to $0.0702, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 1.1 per cent to $593.80, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 0.5 per cent to $1,916.08, Ripple (XRP) also soared by 0.5 per cent to $1.03, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3275.
However, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.1997, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
