Any Hope For The Naira?

Relax, CBN's coordinated release of money from our reserves may be a short-lived moral booster.

The naira APPEARS to be gaining value but awon boiz know the real deal. Oil prices normally increase in the winter months when demand is highest.

And what are we approaching?

Anyway as for me sha (even if the thing like sef---make e go up, go down, roll for ground, tumble upside down come dance maradona join) I go still keep this dollar.  

Inflation rate ’ll remain high till,  - CBN - Nigeria’s external reserves drop to $47bn

Gbola Subair, Abuja
Thursday, April 9, 2009
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed concern over the high rate of inflation in the country, stating that it is going to remain high till mid 2009.

Governor of the apex bank, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a press conference after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting.



 



 
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The governor who said inflation had been high and was a matter of concern, disclosed that the committee noted the upward swing of the year-on-year headline inflation from 14 per cent in January 2009 to 14.6 per cent in February 2009.



Noting that inflation as it affected foodstuffs increased from 18.4 per cent to 20 per cent within the same period, Professor Soludo stated that the outlook for inflation in the near term remained uncertain.



Nonetheless, the CBN governor said the inflation rate could be brought down to single digit by mid 2009 in response to aggregate demand. On the exchange rate, Professor Soludo said the committee was satisfied with the positive outcome of measures taken recently in stabilising the exchange rate in all the segments of the market



“The demand for FOREX has moderated significantly in the retail Dutch Auction System and will continue to be sustained in the near term,” the CBN governor said.



The committee, Professor Soludo also explained, was satisfied with the financial conditions in the country, adding that, “there are no apparent systemic threats to the banking system.”



Noting the importance of credible and effective monetary policy, the CBN said the committee had reaffirmed its commitment to coordinate monetary policy actions with those of fiscal and other institutional and regulatory policies.



Because of liquidity tightness and relatively higher interbank interest rates, Prof Soludo said the MPC had decided to reduce Monetary Policy Rate from 9.75 per cent to eight per cent, reduce the liquidity ratio from 30 per cent to 25 per cent and the Cash Reserve Requirement from two per cent to one per cent with effect from April 14, 2009.



In another development, the crashed price of crude oil in the international market has taken its toll on Nigeria’s external reserves, dropping to $47 billion from $65 billion recorded prior to the global financial meltdown.

Muhtar: Nigeria’s excess crude account, fast depleting
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja, 05.27.2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Excess Crude Account, Nigeria's local reserve for the rainy day, may be exhausted in the next two years if the Federal Government, 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) continue to fall back on it to augment the nation's dwindling oil revenue.
 
 
The nation's dwindling fortunes are the result of  the global economic meltdown, the shortfalls in the non-oil revenue sector, massive shut down of oil production as a result of the Niger Delta crisis as well as the production limitations of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muhtar,  raised the alert yesterday at an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Compliance. Muhtar explained that given the current revenue constraints on several fronts, the Federal Government had for several months relied on the funds that accrued to the said account,  more so when there was an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between it and the State Governors to do so.

He disclosed that apart from the dwindling oil revenue, the Nigeria Customs and Excise and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), two major agencies from which Nigeria derived the bulk of non-oil revenue had also suffered dwindling revenue .

In the current year, he said, Nigeria Customs Service has so far recorded a revenue shortfall of 48.5 per cent while revenue accruing to the Federal Government through the FIRS had witnessed a crash of about 30 per cent.

The Minister of Finance however allayed the fears of the Legislature on preparations for next year's budget, assuring that the process of preparing the Medium Term Expenditure Framework(MTEF) in readiness for the 2010 Appropriation Bill had reached an advanced stage.

Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Compliance, Honourable Daemi Akpanah, had in the course of the interaction sought to know if the Federal Government was managing the Excess Crude Account in line with the stipulations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The House Committee was also probing the seeming delay by the Ministry of Finance to comply with critical provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act which requires the Minister to present a MTEF to the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly before the end of the second quarter of any given year.