Economy
Stop Herdsmen/Farmers Conflict to Avert Food Crisis—MPC Warns FG
By Dipo Olowookere
Members of the Monetary Police Committee (MPC) have expressed concerns over the incessant herdsmen/farmers crisis in the northern part of Nigeria.
The MPC members expressed their fear over this issue during the just-concluded MPC meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, while addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting on Tuesday, said if the issue was not quickly resolved by federal government, it could lead to serious hike in food prices in the country.
According to him, members of the MPC said the situation was capable of disrupting food supply chains in the country.
Benue and Taraba States have been the most affected in the killing of farmers by armed persons suspected to be herdsmen.
The crisis got into another level when the Benue State government signed the anti-grazing bill into law, which some of the cattle rearers were against.
Reading outcome of the MPC meeting to journalists on Tuesday, Mr Emefiele said the committee “reviewed the effects of the sustained monetary policy normalization in the US with implications for capital flow reversals, exchange rate and domestic price pressures, as well as other challenges to growth during the second half of 2018 and noted the sustained moderation in inflationary pressures, especially headline inflation, as well as stability in the foreign exchange market while expressing concern on the negative effects of incessant herdsmen-farmers crisis on food supply chains and food prices calling on the (central) bank to continue to build on the progress already made to sustain the moderation in inflation.”
He further said, “In analysing the economic report presented to the members, observations were made regarding the rise in prices of crude oil in 2017 and 2018, causing an increase in the monthly allocation to various levels of government thereby suggesting that the federal government may not be saving adequately for the future.
“The committee, therefore, advised the fiscal authority to build-up buffers, especially now that the price of crude oil is relatively high.”
According to the CBN chief, “The committee called for acceleration in the implementation of the 2018 budget of appropriation to further support fragile growth recovery alongside sustained implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to further stimulate output growth with concerns about the liquidity impact of the 2018 expansionary fiscal budget and increasing FAAC distribution, due to rising prices of crude oil as well as the build-up in election related spending.”
However, he said the committee “expressed satisfaction on its positive outlook particularly as the real GDP grew for the fourth consecutive quarter alongside increased Manufacturing and Non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Indices in the second quarter of 2018.”
Mr Emefiele said at the end of deliberations, the committee agreed to ”increase the flow of credit to the real economy to consolidate economic recovery, [while] the large corporations are encouraged to issue commercial paper to meet their credit needs and the Central Bank of Nigeria may, if need be, buy those instruments to complement the efforts of the DMBs.”
“Also, as an incentive to encourage deposit money banks to increase lending to the manufacturing and agriculture sectors for new projects and expansion (not for the refinancing of projects), a differentiated dynamic cash reserves requirement (CRR) regime would be implemented, to direct cheap long term bank credit at 9 per cent, with a minimum tenor of seven years and two years moratorium to employment elastic sectors of the Nigerian economy,” he said further.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, President Bola Tinubu will present the 2025 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The size of the 2025 Appropriation Bill is about N47.9 trillion and would be presented to the parliament for approval.
Speaking at the plenary on Thursday, December 12, 2024, the President of the Senate, Mr Godswill Akpabio, said the presentation by Mr Tinubu would be at the chamber of the House of Representatives.
However, it is not certain if the lawmakers will pass the budget before December 31 to allow for a recent budget cycle of January to December.
Recall that on December 3, the senate approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for 2025 to 2027.
This was after the President presented this the National Assembly on November 19 ahead of the consideration of the 2025 budget proposal.
In the MTEF/FSP, the government said it planned to borrow about N9.22 trillion from local and foreign sources to finance the budget deficit.
It pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel and a daily oil production of 2.06 million barrels at an exchange rate of N1,400 to $1, and a targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4 percent.
At the plenary today, Mr Akpabio informed his colleagues that, “The President has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on December 17, 2024.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria added 150,000 barrels per day to its crude production in November 2024 as it continues to pursue an ambitious 2 million barrels per day target.
According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s oil production rose to 1.48 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.33 million barrels per day the previous month.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), OPEC revealed that at 1.48 million barrels per day, it is the continent’s leading oil producer, surpassing Algeria’s 908,000 barrels per day and Congo’s 268,000 barrels per day.
Business Post reports that OPEC doesn’t account for condensates, which Nigeria’s accounts for in its broader 2 million barrels per day target.
Despite the surge in production levels, Nigeria is still under producing its 1.5 million barrels per day output quota under a deal involving OPEC and 10 other producers known as OPEC+.
OPEC said it relied on primary data gotten through direct communication, noting that secondary sources reported 1.417 million barrels per day as Nigeria’s crude production in November — up from 1.4 million barrels per day in October.
The data also shows that OPEC’s total oil production among its 12 members rose by 104,000 barrels per day in the month under review.
According to secondary sources, the total of the 12 OPEC countries’ crude oil production averaged 26.66 million barrels per day in November 2024.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased”, OPEC said.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia,” the organisation added.
In a related development, OPEC trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts for the fifth time this year.
Now, the cartel expects the world’s oil demand growth at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previously 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, a 900,000 barrels per day cut from the previously expected 1.54 million barrels per day.
On the changes, OPEC says 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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Afriland Properties Plc and Geo-Fluids Plc crashed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by a marginal 0.06 per cent on Wednesday, December 11 due to profit-taking activities.
The OTC securities exchange experienced a downfall at midweek despite UBN Property Plc posting a price appreciation of 17 Kobo to close at N1.96 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1.79.
Business Post reports that Afriland Properties Plc slid by N1.14 to finish at N15.80 per unit versus the preceding day’s N16.94 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 1 Kobo to trade at N3.92 per share compared with the N3.93 it ended a day earlier.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the bourse, which measures the total value of securities on the platform, shrank by N650 million to finish at N1.055 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.056 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 1.86 points to wrap the session at 3,012.50 points compared with 3,014.36 points recorded in the previous session.
The alternative stock market was busy yesterday as the volume of securities traded by investors soared by 146.9 per cent to 5.9 million units from 2.4 million units, as the value of shares transacted by the market participants jumped by 360.9 per cent to N22.5 million from N4.9 million, and the number of deals increased by 50 per cent to 21 deals from 14 deals.
When the bourse closed for the day, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units worth N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc, which is now listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after its exit from NASD, remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units sold for N89.2 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 billion.
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