Economy
Saving Your Money in Different Currencies – What are the Plus Sides?
Communication has been one of the most important activities either between individuals, groups of people or even between countries. It was very important for the currency the country was holding because it was the main tool for communication and the same currency holding could make the two countries united or separated.
We can see the same trend nowadays, however, in the 21st century, it is more likely for countries to have common interests, policies, etc while having the same currency. A perfect example, in this case, is the European Union and countries that are having a Euro as their currency, and as a result, their economic dependency is utterly high.
The same way as the English language became universal and it is the language that is most widely used even while you are travelling abroad, the USD has become a universal currency as well.
If English is used by people to communicate with each other, USD is used by political entities, government officials and is often considered to be the tool to conduct negotiations between countries.
Even though the USD is widely used and accepted in many countries, it is not the primary currency in the majority of countries, and because of that, the countries are using the exchange rates to calculate the difference between two currencies.
If we are in our country, we are using our national currency, however, if we are leaving the country, money exchange is one of the most important details to take into account. The USD and EUR exchange is the most popular pair in the world.
Pros and Cons
The existence of different currencies can be considered as positive as well as a negative prism. The USD is the most frequently used currency and many different activities, whether it is for trading, measurement, and most importantly this is the currency that is fixed to gold.
Another most widely spread currency is the Euro which is used in Europe by the member countries of the Single Currency Market, and the advantages that were imposed by the implementation of the single currency are fascinating. People living in Greece can go to Italy without thinking about the additional commissions for converting the currencies, let alone the trade procedures that are way easier.
The fact that those currencies are very popular does not mean that there are no other currencies that are more valuable. GBP and Swiss Pound are great examples in this case. The differences between currencies are very important to take into account, especially when those two countries are having strong economic relations.
The biggest profit and advantage that is taken from the exchange market and currency fluctuation are by the forex brokers and generally, the foreign exchange market.
The whole idea and the purpose of the industry is to trade with the differences between currencies or between possible changes that might happen between currencies. If someone is considering becoming involved in the market, there are several important factors to be considered.
First and foremost, it is important to find a brokerage company (trading without help is quite difficult) that is regulated on the market.
It also depends on where is your current living locations since the regulatory bodies are different from one country to another, for example, there is a lot of difference between CySEC and FCA, the first one being the regulatory body from Cyprus and offers the companies easier terms and conditions, while FCA is the regulatory body in the UK, having one of the most difficult processes to get the license.
Forex market usually observes the changes in the economy, whether it is inflation or recession, as well as the depreciation and appreciation. The system is quite simple and the trader earns profits if the prediction on a certain currency rate was true, however, the market is very vulnerable to many aspects happening not only in the economy but in political or social agenda. This is why sometimes the regulatory bodies are too restrictive when it comes to giving the license to the brokerage companies.
Savings and different currencies
All of us have to work really hard to make our economic conditions better than it is at that certain time. For that, we often save our money for the next few months, years, or even for the future generation.
The meaning of saving and its efficiency was quite vivid when the whole world faced the global COVID pandemic and the economic crisis that was caused by it. Some people were smart enough to take care of their funds for the dark days.
However, some people appeared to be smart, while others appeared to be smarter. Those who live outside of the US or the EU and receive the wages in their national currency often save their money in the USD or EUR.
During the pandemic, all the currencies were depreciated against the USD, which means that the USD got even stronger and those who had saved in their local currency lost more than those who made saving in the USD.
Very clear examples, in this case, are the Eastern or Central European countries, for example, Poland, which is still using the national currency Polish Zloty, and which was depreciated during the global pandemic. People, who had their savings in the local currency lost twice as much as they would have benefited in the case of investing in the USD.
The economic changes are happening all over the world very dynamically and global inflation is still going, especially after years of lockdowns and quarantine.
USD keeps strengthening its positions against all the other currencies and it is still under the question mark whether the other currencies can survive the dollarization or will they lose their value.
The above-mentioned examples have shown that the information is key to any kind of situation and having the proper knowledge about the general trends of the financial, what are the upcoming events that might affect the economic environment or many other details, can help us decide what our future economic steps should be.
It is true that predictions are not always accurate and we also might make the decision that will be not financially beneficial, however, we should not try out the amount that we are building the trust upon and relying ourselves on them. Having the proper saving management strategy and plan is the key to its success.
Economy
Again, OPEC Cuts 2024, 2025 Oil Demand Forecasts
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.
Economy
Aradel Holdings Acquires Equity Stake in Chappal Energies
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.
Economy
Afriland Properties Lifts NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.04%
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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