Economy
Senate Passes 2020 Budget
By Dipo Olowookere
The 2020 Appropriation Bill presented to a joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu in October 2019 has been passed by the Senate.
The upper legislative chamber of the parliament read the 2020 budget for the third time after it was presented by Senator Barau Jibrin of the Committee on Appropriations on the 2020 Appropriation Bill.
Business Post reports that the lawmakers later passed the bill after the Senate dissolved into the Committee of Supply for the clause by clause consideration of the report.
But before it was passed, the immediate past Senate President, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, thanked the committee and leaders of the parliament. He said, “In looking at this budget there were a lot of constraints and we would have also done better in some areas.
“The first is the exchange rate, the next year budget should also find a way of addressing unemployment. Nigeria has not shown interest in environmental issues and this year has about N9 billion for the whole of environment.
“We need to do something about security and provide for those key sectors and provide a safe atmosphere for people to go about their business. I move that this Bill be fully considered and passed today.”
On her part, former Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, opined that, “This appropriation prioritizes what we are all clamouring for and that is security. If you look at the budget, the security takes a lion share. I want to commend the Committee and urge my colleagues to support this wonderful bill.”
Former Governor of Benue State, Mr Gabriel Suswam, stated that, “I support that we pass this budget today but I want to make an appeal to have an executive session after we pass this budget to address some issues that affect all of us.”
Senator Solomon Adeola, in his contribution, commended Chairman and members of the Appropriations Committee, saying, “The Committee has worked within the parameters to ensure they give a budget that will work for the common man and a budget that will take us to the next level.”
“I want to extend my gratitude and thanks to all my Distinguished colleagues who worked really hard to make sure that this budget sees the light of the day within the time frame that we have set for ourselves.
“I congratulate everyone for their commitment and for the hard work. I want to thank the executive arm of government for the unprecedented urgency that they have presented the budget and we hope that highest preparations will be done towards the 2021 budget,” Mr Yahaya Abdullahi submitted.
“What is important is the immediate execution of this budget. The issue of oversight should be non-negotiable. We should remind the executive that in this 9th Senate we will take the issue of oversight more serious,” Mr Rochas Okorocha, the immediate past Governor of Imo State, said.
After the budget was passed, Senator Bassey Akpan said, “The focus should now shift on pursuing revenue to ensure the implementation of the budget.”
Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan, “This could not have been possible without the efforts all of you have put. When we came in, all of us approved our legislative agenda which was to ensure we take back our budget cycle to a cycle that could easily be defined and to something that could easily be bought into.
“Today, we have been able to achieve this. I must give members of the 9th National Assembly the credit. Let me also commend the executive arm of government.
“We pray that the executive is able to implement the budget fully. Once again, I want to congratulate all of us here and I hope we continue to work together as colleagues to ensure the 2020 budget is fully implemented.”
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.
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.
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.
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