Headline inflation falls to 17.38% in July

    Headline inflation fell for the fourth consecutive months to 17.38 percent in July, 2021, representing a 0.37 percentage points when compared to 17.75 per cent recorded in the previous month of June. Similarly,  the food index fell by 0.80 percent to 21.03 per cent from 21.83 per cent  in June.

   In its Consumer Price Index, CPI, report for July released yesterday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the decline in food index was due to increases in prices of milk, cheese and eggs, coffee, tea and cocoa, vegetables, bread and cereals, Soft drinks, and meatCPI measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services.

CBN, Police To Prosecute Abusers Of Naira

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed displeasure over the activities of persons, who flagrantly abuse the Nigerian Naira by hurling wads of currency notes in the air and stamping on them at social functions.

Timipre Sylva - NNPC Limited To Kick Off In Six Months

   

      The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will become a commercial company within six months, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva said on Tuesday. This follows the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.

   Mr Sylva, who was speaking at a press conference in Abuja, said a transitional committee is already in place to incorporate NNPC Limited. All shares in NNPC Limited are expected to be vested in the government at incorporation and held by the Ministry of Finance.

Dangote ranked 117th in latest global billionaires index

   

   Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote has been ranked 117th in the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This was captured in a daily ranking of world’s richest people which is updated at the close of every trading day in New York. 

CBN to refund N35m capital deposits to BDC applicants

 

   The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday says it will start immediate refund of capital deposit to Bureaux de Change (BDC) promoters with pending applications.

  According to a circular signed by Ibrahim Tukur for the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department of the apex bank, this is in furtherance of the decision to discontinue allocation of Foreign Exchange (FX) to BDC operators. Tukur urged eligible promoters of BDCs to forward their application for refund in writing to the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department of the CBN.

Central Bank of Nigeria Bans Sale Of Foreign Exchange To BDC Operators

 

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced an end to the weekly allocation and sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country.

   CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made the announcement on Tuesday while briefing reporters on the outcomes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

   “In total disregard of the difficulty that the (apex) bank is facing in meeting its mandate of maintaining the country’s foreign exchange reserves to safeguard the value of the naira, we have continued to observe that stakeholders in some of the sub-sectors have not been helpful in this direction,” he lamented.

FCMB Limited announces appointment of Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olaiya as Executive Director, Risk & Compliance

 

  The Board of Directors of First City Monument Bank Limited (the Bank) have announced the appointment of Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olaiya as Executive Director, Risk & Compliance. This follows the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

CBN releases guidelines, framework for Mobile Money Services

   The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, today released Regulatory Guidelines and Framework for Mobile Money Services in the country.

  According to CBN, the introduction of mobile telephony in Nigeria and its rapid growth and adoption among other factors have underscored its decision to issue the framework as it will create an enabling environment for the orderly introduction and management of mobile money services in Nigeria.

DafriBank Digital- Moves operations to over 180 countries

 

   The operations of DafriBank have continued to spread across the world with its presence being greatly felt in over 180 countries

   DafriBank Digital is a branchless and borderless financial technology company providing customized financial services, payment gateway solutions, and growth opportunities to digital entrepreneurs and businesses.

NIRSAL guarantees N266.97b bank loans in five years

   

   The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc has guaranteed N266.97 billion ($648 million) bank loans to different agriculture-focused companies in the last five years.

CBN, Bankers’ Committee Suspend Lay-Offs In Banks

  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the bankers’ committee have agreed to suspend lay-offs in banks across the federation.

This agreement was reached at a special meeting of the Bankers’ Committee which was convened on May 2, 2020, to further review the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian banking industry.

Popular businesswoman, Ronke Funktionals dies

 

   Successful Ibadan/Lagos businesswoman popularly known as Ronke Funktionals, has died. Ms. Ronke, a mum-of-two, was the CEO of a chain of boutiques called Funktionals.  She allegedly slumped inside her car on Friday night in Ibadan, Oyo State.

CBN lifts suspension on cheques’ clearing

   The Central Bank of Nigeria has lifted suspension on cheque clearing by the Deposit Money Banks. It stated this in a circular to all the DMBs and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System issued on Monday, titled, ‘Temporary suspension of cheque clearing in the Nigerian clearing system’, which was signed by its Director, Banking Services Department, Sam Okojere.

Oil-price turmoil gripped traders

   Oil-price turmoil gripped traders once more Tuesday, a day after US crude futures crashed below zero for the first time as the coronavirus crisis crippled global energy demand and worsened a supply glut.

  The commodity rout also sent world equity markets spiralling lower, as investors fretted it could compound an expected deep global economic downturn. WTI had Monday collapsed to an unprecedented intra-day low of minus $40.32. Negative prices mean traders must pay to find buyers to take physical possession of the oil — a job made difficult with the world’s storage capacity at bursting point.

Oil marketers lose N3.5bn

   

  Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) says its members lost about N3.5 billion to the reduction in fuel price.  This was even as it decried the latest price cut, the second in less than a month after the last review on March 19, 2020.

The Executive Secretary of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Abdulkadir Saidu, had said the action was in line with government approval of a new pricing regime, effective March 19 2020, which provided for the establishment of a price band within which Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are expected to sell at the retail stations.

‘‘Accordingly, the PPPRA wishes to further clarify the Guiding Price Band (with effect from April 1, 2020) of N123.50 per litre – Lower Band (LB), N125.00 per litre – Upper Band (UB). Members of the public and all oil marketing companies are to be guided accordingly.’’ he said

Central bank suspends cheque clearing

 

  The central bank has temporarily suspended cheque clearing in the Nigerian banking system as President Muhammadu Buhari ordered lockdown takes effect midnight Monday in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The lockdown was ordered in the commercial capital of Lagos, capital city Abuja and Ogun State.

66 filling stations get waivers to supply fuel to border towns

 

  The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says the federal government has granted 66 filling stations waivers to lift and supply fuel to border communities.

  Chinedu Okoronkwo, IPMAN president, told NAN on Monday that the ban was lifted after engagements between oil marketers and the Nigeria Customs Service. The government had, on November 6, 2019, directed that petroleum products should not be supplied to filling stations within 20 kilometres of the border.

Nigeria suspends plans to borrow $22.7 billion

     The Federal Government on Monday disclosed that it has suspended its $22.7 billion ex­ternal borrowing plans due to current realities in the global economic landscape.

   Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, who made this known in Abuja said the cur­rent market indices do not support external borrowings at the moment. Speaking at the 2020 In­ternational Conference on the Nigerian Commodities Market, organised by the Se­curities and Exchange Com­mission (SEC), the minister stated that the government would not go ahead with the borrowing programme even if it secures the approval of the National Assembly.

CBN sets rules for domiciliary account

 

   Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Sunday said customers can deposit dollar into their domiciliary accounts but are not allowed to transfer it to another party. In a statement, CBN, Corporate Communications Director, Isaac Okorafor, said  the apex bank had not  prohibited the acceptance of foreign currency  cash deposits by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

Excess Crude Account drops from $325m to $70m

 

   Experts on Wednesday expressed concern following a report that the Excess Crude Account(ECA) was depleted from $325 million to $70 million within a month. The experts blamed it on profound revenue challenges and lack of rules governing deposits and withdrawals from the special account.

   They argued that the depletion would not have been  so massive if   state governors had not insisted on   sharing of monies in the ECA,  a special account for keeping  extra oil revenue above budgeted oil benchmark. The implication of the drop, according to them, is a likely crash of the exchange rate, which invariably would result in  devaluation of the naira.

   A statement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)   yesterday said the strategic reserve account now has $71.814 million down from the $324.968 million recorded on   January 15. Details of the huge depletion was not provided by the FAAC team that issued the statement. Last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned the fiscal authorities to build up buffers against revenue shocks by saving for the rainy day.