₦airaland Forum

davidif:
They can work hand in hand but they are INDEPENDENT of each other. The fact that I am in a partnership with you does not mean that you are my boss and get to tell me what to do.

A lot of you have no idea how these things work. It is an economy, an ITEM.

davidif:
Wrong! That's not how economies work. Both entities are supposed to be independent of each other. That's how stuff works in most modern economies. The problem to me seems to be that Mrs. Adeosun seems to have run out of ideas.

Lol.. look at the way you said wrong to what you have no idea about. Listen, European Central Bank has repeatedly called on its members to complement monetary measures (quantitative easing) with fiscal stimulus. Exactly what Taro Aso and Haruhiko Kuroda of Japan Central Bank are doing. Even Mark Carney of Bank of England would seek to do the same thing to manage UK exit from EU if his tenure is extended beyond June.

Without us having a sync monetary and fiscal policies. I am sorry we won't have a balanced economic policy and will continue to struggle. I just replied you, normally I won't.

The Senate on Wednesday approved President Muhammadu’s Buhari request for $500m Eurobond in the International Capital Market to fund 2016 Budget deficit.

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who acted on behalf of the President, had on March 15, written to the Senate to approve the amount to fund the deficit.

In the letter, Osinbajo explained that the request was based on new borrowings provided in the 2016 Appropriation Act.

“The senate may wish to refer to item 229 and 244 of the 2016 Federal Government of Nigeria Appropriation Act which provided for a deficit of N2, 204.74bn and new borrowings of N1, 818.68bn, respectively.

“The Act also provided for domestic borrowing of N1, 182.80bn and external borrowing N635.88bn in line with item 245 and 246, respectively.

“The Senate may also wish to note that while the approved domestic borrowing has been fully incurred, the N635.88bn on external borrowing has not been fully accessed.

“The external borrowing incurred today consists of $600 from the African Development Bank and $1bn Euro Bond for the mInternational Capital Market only.

“The senate may wish to note that the proceeds of the Euro Bond are to be used as funding sources to finance the budget deficit, including capital expenditure projects as specified in the 2016 Appropriation Act,’’ he stated.

Moving the motion for the approval of the fund, Deputy Leader of the Senate, Bala Na’Allah, said that in view of the urgency of the request and the lack of time, it was necessary for the lawmakers to grant the approval.

The motion was seconded by the Minority Leader, Sen. Godswill Akpabio.

Consequently, the lawmakers unanimously approved the president’s request.

After the approval, Na’Allah commended the senators for approving the fund for the deficit defray.

I thank my colleagues for this rare show of understanding and exhibition of cooperation for this government in its determination to touch the life of average Nigerians,” he said.

http://investorsking.com/senate-approves-500m-eurobond-fund-2016-budget-deficit/

7 days to triggering article 50 of Lisbon Treaty. A process that will likely plunge the U.K. economy and impact new job creation, worsen inflation rate as shown by consumer prices data released yesterday and most importantly compel Scottish people to leave the United Kingdom.

I understand why people are angry, job would be lost, career would suffer and affect UK's position in the world.

HARD BREXIT.

Amoto94:
Truth234 whatcha say?

My concern is sustainability of foreign exchange supply. The Shale has upped production following Donald Trump wins, disrupting OPEC successful consensus, hence, plunging oil below $50/barrel for the first time in three months.

Even though, oil was pegged at $45 a barrel in the 2017 budget, there is possibility of price slipping below that benchmark if OPEC failed to take into consideration US Shale production during September cut. However, our oil revenue will take a slight hit for now but I don't think it will have a significant impact on current progress considering the fact that just about $2.6 billion has been sold so far by the CBN, which is below what we generate in a single month. Therefore, the CBN still has enough arsenal to hurt speculators and close forex gap.

sholatech:
So how was Dr Ngozi Okonjo as minister in two occasions able to tower above the Cbn governor with two different administrations?

That is one of the reasons we are where we are now. Wasn't Okonjo there when the economy started current downward trend? The truth is there is lack of confluence between monetary and fiscal policies, and until both complement each other we won't have a balanced economic policy.

The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; and Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga, saw their net worth declined by $3.2bn and $4.2bn, respectively in the past year, according to Forbes 2017 World’s Billionaires list.

Dangote retained his position as Africa’s richest person in the latest ranking, with a fortune of $12.2bn, although he was ranked 105th as against 51st last year.

The Chairman of Forte Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola; and the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, BUA Group, AbdulsamadRabiu, were missing on the list. They were worth $1.8bn and $1.1bn, respectively last year.

In 2015, Otedola re-joined the list of African billionaires after a five-year hiatus, with a $1bn fortune.

The net worth of the Founder and Executive Chairman, Famfa Oil Limited, Mrs. FolorunshoAlakija, was unchanged at $1.6bn, coming in the 1,315th position, down from 1,121st last year.

This year, the number of billionaires jumped by 13 per cent to 2,043 from 1,810 in 2016, the first time ever that Forbes has pinned down more than 2,000 10-figure-fortunes.

Their total net worth rose by 18 per cent to a record $7.67tn, with the increase in the number of billionaires described as the biggest in the 31 years that Forbes has been tracking billionaires globally.

Bill Gates is the number one richest for the fourth year in a row, and the richest person in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years. He has a fortune of $86bn, up from $75bn last year.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos had the best year of any person on the planet, adding $27.6bn to his fortune, and is now worth $72.8bn, moving into the top three in the world for the first time, up from number five a year ago.

Warren Buffett had the second-best year, and the biggest gain since Donald Trump was elected United States President in November 2016. His $14.8bn jump in 12 months was enough for him to grab back the number two spot from Amancio Ortega, founder of Spanish clothing chain, Zara.

Ortega’s fortune was up by $4.3bn since last year, but he still fell to fourth in the world, unable to keep up with the outsize gains of others.

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, moved up to number five for the first time, after his fortune rose by $11.4bn in 12 months.

Carlos Slim of Mexico fell to number six, the first time he’s been out of the top five in a dozen years.

President Trump saw his net worth decline by $1bn to $3.5bn. His position on the Forbes’ ranking dropping 220 spots, leaving him tied with 19 others as the 544th richest person in the world.

There were 195 newcomers, including 26-year-old John Collison, who is now the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, just two months younger than Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel.

There are 56 billionaires under age 40, down from 66 last year, after some aged out and others dropped below the $1bn mark.

The Forbes billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth taken on February 17, and stock prices and exchange rates from around the world were used to calculate their net worth.

http://investorsking.com/dangote-adenugas-net-worth-drops-7-4bn/

When is Purchasing Managers' Index economic yardstick?

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 14 per cent.

The CBN Governor while briefing journalists shortly after the two-day meeting held at the apex bank’s headquarters in Abuja explained that out of the ten members that attended the meeting, nine voted to retain the rate while one voted for an increase.

He also said the committee retained other monetary policy parameters such as the Cash Reserves Ratio at 22.5 per cent, Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent and the Asymmetric Corridor at 200 basis points.

http://investorsking.com/mpc-retains-benchmark-lending-rate-at-14-percent/

The naira extended its declines at the official market on Monday, falling to 307.5 against the United States dollar.

The local currency closed at 307 to a dollar last week at the official market from the 305.50 level it had traded since last year. It was quoted at 445 at the black market, firmer than the 450 a dollar it closed on Friday.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday said it offered a total of $180m to meet bids for forwards, which includes requests for invisibles such as medicals, school fees and personal travel allowances valued at $80m, through the interbank window.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Isaac Okorafor, said the wholesale requests would be settled on Tuesday (today), adding that the closing interbank rate was N307.5/$1.

Okorafor said with the fresh forex supply, naira should further strengthen in the foreign exchange market in the days to come.

He said the CBN had so far met all the legitimate demands from genuine customers, and would ensure sustainable forex liquidity and transparency in the process to enable as many customers as possible to get access to forex.

Okorafor advised eligible individuals with genuine foreign currency needs to freely approach their banks and authorised dealers with their request, stressing that the CBN had made adequate provisions of foreign currency for all such legitimate purposes.

The Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said the depreciation of the naira at the official market might be part of the CBN’s effort to narrow the gap between the official and parallel market rates and achieve a market-reflective exchange rate.

“The central bank could adopt an intentional strategy to allow the naira to depreciate at the official window of the market, even as the parallel market is appreciating, to reduce the spread between the two markets and achieve a more market-reflective exchange rate,” he said.

A currency analyst at Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ezun, said a true price discovery may not happen as quickly as one would have expected.

“The idea is that once they are able to fight the parallel market, they will want to allow the official market to depreciate and again reflect the market position.”

He said the 305 at which the naira was trading before now was a managed rate.

Ezun said, “It is only when you have that interplay between demand and supply that you begin to see a rate that reflect the market. So, that may begin to happen but it may not be as fast as one would have expected.

“But gradually, with confidence coming back to the market and the appreciation that we have started seeing in the parallel market, then we will begin to see a level of competitiveness in the official market.”

http://investorsking.com/naira-falls-at-official-market-cbn-supplies-180m/

However, analysts at Investors King Ltd., are optimistic that inflation rate will start declining in the first quarter of the year as the increase in business confidence due to OPEC successful consensus is likely to renew investment rush and attract enough capital importation needed to offset current forex deficit. Investors King's January 14, 2017, projection

The reduced pace of increase is in line with Investors King Ltd projection that surge in global oil prices would buttress CBN efforts and reinforce the attractiveness of Nigerian market as an investment destination. Therefore, further adjustment is expected as long as the current level of oil production is sustained, while both the gross domestic product and unemployment rate are projected to improve henceforth. March 14, 2017 projection

We expect further improvement across all sectors and gradual economic recovery in the second quarter.

The cost of goods and services in Nigeria improved for the first time in over a year following a series of policy implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria to manage consumer prices and moderate foreign exchange.

The consumer price index which measures inflation rate rose 17.78 percent, year-on-year, in February. This was 0.94 percent lower than 18.72 percent recorded in January, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday.

However, on a monthly basis, the cost of goods and services surged by 1.49 percent in February, which was 0.48 percent more than 1.01 percent increase recorded in January.

Accordingly, price increases were recorded across all COICOP divisions but the major division responsible for accelerating the rate of increase were water, housing, electricity, gas and other fuel, education, food and alcoholic beverages, clothing and footwear and transportation services.

http://investorsking.com/nigerias-inflation-declines-to-17-78/

The Naira gained across all the foreign exchange segments on Monday following the additional sales of $170 million by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week.

The local currency improved three points on the parallel market to exchange at N452, from N455 posted on Friday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N550 and 476, respectively.

At the Bureau De Change window, the Naira was sold at N399 to a dollar, CBN stipulated rate, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N547 and N482, respectively.

On the interbank market window, the Nair closed at N306 to a US dollar.Trading on the floor of the interbank market saw the Naira closed at N306.00 to a dollar.

Traders at the market expressed delight in the interventions the CBN had made so far in boosting liquidity, adding that its sustenance would turn the economy around in the short to medium term.

Meanwhile, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, said the association was expecting an increment in dollar sales to its members this week.

Gwadabe said that due to the stability in the oil sector and the increase in the price of oil at the international market, the CBN was now comfortable in entertaining ABCON’s request to increase the volume of dollar sales to its members.

The ABCON boss said that a boost in its weekly volume from 8,000 dollars weekly to 15,000 dollars would sustain the existing efforts in stabilising the Naira exchange rate at the FOREX market.

“We expect that the CBN will increase the weekly dollar sales to about 3200 registered BDC’s nationwide this week.

“This development will help to crash the high exchange rate at the parallel market, thereby stabilising the market that segment of the market.

“The CBN is also collaborating with ABCON to reduce the hiccups encountered by ABCON members in filling their returns to the apex bank,’’ Gwadabe said.

The financial expert added that the Naira was expected to extend appreciation across the major segments of the FOREX market this week.

Since the CBN began intervening in the FOREX market, it had spent an excess of $1.4bn in boosting liquidity at the market.

Some concerned Nigerians have hailed the effort of the CBN in boosting liquidity at the FOREX market, but added that the liquidity boost had not yet translated to the reduction in the price of goods and services in the country.

http://investorsking.com/naira-appreciates-across-forex-market/

The country’s total domestic debt profile rose to N11.05 trillion as at December 30, 2016, compared to N10.84 trillion in September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to the information posted on its website, federal government bonds accounted for N7.56 trillion, representing 68.41 per cent of total debt instrument.

Nigerian Treasury Bills accounted for N3.27 trillion, representing 29.64 per cent of total domestic debts while Treasury Bonds totalled N215.98 billion in the period under review.
Nigeria borrows from both domestic and foreign markets from time to time to meet its budgetary expenditure.

The total public debt stock including the external component as at June 30, 2016, stood at N16.29 trillion.

Meanwhile, the debt management has also released the subscription form for the federal government Savings Bond which is expected to enhance the participation of individuals in government debt instruments as opposed to institutional investors.

The facility has a minimum and maximum subscription offers of N5,000 and N50,000 respectively.

http://investorsking.com/domestic-debt-stock-rises-n11-05tn/

Adesiji77:
They should keep pumping it in....

Speculators' headache

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday injected another sum of $100m into the interbank foreign exchange market, its acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor has said.

Okorafor said the measure became necessary as part of the initiatives to make Forex easily accessible, thereby crashing demand at the black market.

The director made this known to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said that the measure was to fund the commercial banks with enough Forex to cater for the request of customers and to meet basic travelling allowance, medicals and tuition fees.

This fresh injection by the apex bank brings the amount so far pumped into the interbank Forex market within the last two weeks to $1.14bn for both forwards and invisibles.

A former Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Ode Ojowu said the measure would further create problems for currency speculators who had not recover from the sudden appreciation of the Naira.

“It appears this time around, the CBN has decided to become smarter than the market manipulators by putting on its cap of authority to look beneath the market forces,” he said.

Ojowu also commended the efforts of the CBN in ensuring the continuous appreciation of the Naira.

He attributed this to good policy and effective communication strategy, which had increased dollar supply to the market.

http://investorsking.com/forex-cbn-pumps-additional-100m-market/

PBundles:
Please dont tell me you based your info on a newspaper article. Ok fine. I never stated I was an investment banker (you assumed ....again, a most of your claims are assumptions) feel free to read my post. Im simply stated I was in banking for over 20 years, but my field of specialization is not that far off. Nice to know you are a analyst. I also teach at an European Business school, have been since 2002.

One thing though, you stated that an investment banker would know that know that NIBOR changes based on fund availability Um No.. sorry I had to chuckle NIBOR like all bank offer rates is simply that rate at which BANKS want to lend to each other.
different things, in fact I can show you even in the case of Nigeria where the 3 or 6 months TB moved opposite for NIBOR on the same day.

No qualms you do your thing I do mine.

Again, the Nigerian Inter bank Offered Rate I quoted was for last week.

Again I didn't know what to say. Sir, thanks for the discussion.

PBundles:
You dont need to respond, im noty looking for your confirmation believe me. I think it was I that mentioned that there are used for funding, you claimed that by mopping up the Naira this would eliviate naira purchases of $, but its fine. As I mentioned I wasnt privy, but maybe you are. I think they are trying a.o. to control the inflation rate. The oil income is not enough, otherwise you wont issue T Bills I would assume. I could go into that but not interested in explaining that, you should get that. Also revenue is nothing, its bottom line Im interested in. If you get $3bn but have an expense higher then that means nothing. Its all about efficiency margin. No need to go back and forth but will leave you with one question:

If the T Bill was a success as you mentioned, O/N was 15 percent, then why is it now 17.63 NIBOR @ 1.20 BB screen Nigeria BTMM( 13% rise in 2 days) . I know you don know how to respond to me.

Dont know why I fall trap to these discussions. Later.................

The oil income won't be enough to finance the 2017 budget but would be more than enough to finance 2.2 trillion of the 2017 budget (7.3 trillion) stipulated to come from oil revenue. Also, mopping up naira will not elevate naira purchases but reduce investors/capitalists buying power, therefore, end-users would be able to access it.

Here is a link http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/scarcity-funds-worsens-cbn-mops-n373-billion/

Again, the Nigerian Inter bank Offered Rate I quoted was for last week. To be honest, you didn't strike me like an investment banker, and to even come on here and throw it in the conversation as if it matters than the discussion itself is 'surprising'. I am a foreign exchange research analyst and trader myself with over 15 years experience. An investment banker should know NIBOR changes based on fund availability. Goodbye.

PBundles:
Im not privy to their plan/strategy so I cant comment on that, but certain things dont make ssense.

You donty mop up loacl currency by issuing TBills, at least not Niara TBills. Something tells me that those who bought TBill were investors, possibly international. And I think it was more a funding reaction. What are T Bills actually, simply IOUs from the CBN to external holders, why, to fund. Not to mop up Naira. I stand to be corrected but have never seen that in all my years. If you have examples I would be interested to know.

On the second part, that is incorrect. The CBN has no choice, those contracts will be concluded and they will need to deliver. These indivuals already have $ accounts, otherwise they wouldnt be able to enter these contracts, so on settlement date, $ will be delivered and Naira/Or what ever currency was on the other leg, will be paid. Its that simple.

On the CBN meeting the $ obligations, they cant thats the whole problem. The $ they have are enough for Cap spending and funding the exchange window. If they could then why the problem, why the intervention?

I wrote a a post a year ago where I predicted the trading range of the Naira to USD based on certain inputs, I wasnt off. I will see if I can find it and repost. I do this for a living, I can dream this.

I don't even know how to respond to you, given your submission. When gov issue TBills its usually to raise fund to finance capital projects. Now what the CBN is doing is raising fund via Tbills and also using it as a tool to reduce naira availability in order to curb investors excesses in terms of dollar liquidity. Also, most of the investors are locals as foreign investors are bend on having a free floated currency before jumping in, at least that was obvious from the 87 percent subscription. Likewise, if there is no scarcity of fund overnight lending rate won't jump to 15%.

Again, going by our oil output and surge in global oil prices, the CBN is generating about $3 billion per month. I am still yet to see how they can't meet this IOU.

For the record, the intervention is part of the CBN plan to clear backlogs, it does not mean the apex bank is not generating enough forex.

Nigeria’s first deepwater development, the Bonga field, has been shut down, causing oil firms and the nation a huge loss of revenue estimated at N3.45bn daily.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited announced on Monday that the field was shut down on Saturday to enable it to commence turnaround maintenance on the field.

It said, in a statement signed by the Corporate Media Relations Manager, Precious Okolobo, that executing the statutory activities would ensure continuous optimum operations at the deepwater field, which began producing in November 2005.

Production from the field is expected to resume at the conclusion of the exercise next month, according to SNEPCo.

The Managing Director, SNEPCo, Mr. Bayo Ojulari, was quoted as saying, “The exercise will help ensure sustained production and reduced unscheduled production deferments. This is the fourth turnaround maintenance since Bonga began production.”

A major focus is the Bonga Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel, which is at the heart of the Bonga operations. The Bonga FPSO has the capacity to produce 225,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

Reuters reported that market sources had expected work on the field because there were no exports planned in March, compared with typical exports of roughly 200,000 barrels per day.

Using an oil price of $54.4 per barrel, as seen on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website, the 200,000 bpd would amount to $10.8m or N3.32bn (at the official exchange rate of N305.25 per dollar).

With the price of natural gas put at $2.83 per 1,000 scf as of March 3, 2017, the 150 million scf capacity translates to a loss of $424,500 or N129.58m.

The shutdown of Bonga field is coming a year after Shell declared force majeure on Forcados export after the terminal was shut. It has yet to be lifted as of the time of filing this report.

The force majeure, a legal clause that allows it to stop shipments without breaching contracts, came a week after the Forcados export line was attacked by militants in the Niger Delta.

According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, at the Forcados terminal alone, about 300,000 bpd were shut-in since February 2016 following the force majeure declared by Shell Petroleum Development Company.

“For the Bonga team, this is another opportunity to excel, having won the ‘Asset of the Year’ Award 2016 in the Shell Group, followed by runners-up in Norway and Malaysia. We are pleased that the award recognised the continuing collaboration towards optimum production with a focus on safety, cost and Nigerian content development, which will be invaluable in the maintenance work,” Ojulari said.

Bonga is in depths of more than 1,000 metres and is located 120 kilometres offshore Nigeria, according to the statement.

SNEPCo said it expanded the project with further drilling of wells in Bonga phases 2 and 3 and through a subsea tie-back that unlocked the nearby Bonga North West field in August 2014. Bonga Phase 3 achieved first oil in October 2015.

SNEPCo operates Bonga in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deep Water) Limited; Total E&P Nigeria Limited; and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited under a Production Sharing Contract with the NNPC.

http://investorsking.com/nigeria-loses-n3-45bn-daily-shell-shuts-bonga/ Lalasticlala Mynd44 seun Dominique

PBundles:
Sorry but this doesnt translate to good news to me. This simply shows that the CBN may be in more dire straights and the reason why the are stating this is because news must have gotten out that they wouldnt be able to meet their forward contract obligations. In short a forward is a contract in which parties agree to deliver a certain amount at a certain date. As these are $ forwards, the customer (could be banks,or those authrised to trade with the CBN) has a contract to deliver other currencies ( Im assuming Naira) to the CBN and will get in this case $. They can also choose at the delivery date to pay/receive the difference, depends on the wording of the contract.

Seems they dont have enough $ to meet this and since they are obligated they mahe decided to intervene. I wonder how long they will and can continue to intervene. The Swiss tried for years against the Euro, they ultimately failed.

This is a short term (as most things are in Nigeria, God forbid we try anything long term) plan as usualm and then keeping our fingers crossed hoping it will solve it self.

Let the Naira free float and save yourself the headache, the market is already telling you the worth of the naira, no need trying to keep up the facade which will only cost you $ you urgently need yourself. Its like a unattractive woman applying tons of make up to get a man, wont he see your true face one day, and then what.

Well just my two cents and +20 years in international banking...........

CBN is following a plan/strategy. Last week, the CBN mopped up N373 billion through sales of treasury bills in order to prevent too much Naira pursuing the available foreign exchange resources and putting pressure on exchange rates. It was a success as the cash in the market dropped to N2 billion from N74 billion, prompting increase in overnight lending rate to 15 percent.

The idea is to reduce cash availability in the market so greedy capitalists/investors won't mop up dollars when those forward contracts matured. Hence, end-users can access them at moderate rate.

I also think the CBN would be able to meet those agreement going by our forex generation and current oil output.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday said it carried out another round of retail intervention in the interbank foreign exchange market by providing a total of $367,134,329.93 to meet the forward requests of customers.

A breakdown of the funds shows that the sum of $144,073,753.07 was for 45 days, while $223,060,576.86 was for 60 days.

A statement by the CBN’s Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, said the move was in line with the bank’s determination to ease the foreign exchange pressure on various sectors through forward sales under the new flexible forex regime to keep the market liquid.

Since the modification of the foreign exchange policy by the CBN, over $1bn had been made available to meet the needs of various users of foreign exchange.

During the first intervention in the forex market last week, the CBN offered $500m for sale to banks, but not all of them provided enough naira backing to pay fully for their respective bid amounts.

At the second intervention, a total of $221.3m was made available to 16 banks for forward sales to end-users of forex.

Okoroafor assured that the CBN would continue to make interventions based on qualified bids from the banks on the requests of their customers.

He reiterated that the CBN was more than ever ready to support the inter-bank market by ensuring liquidity and transparency to guarantee efficiency in the forex market.

Okorafor therefore urged all market participants to contribute their patriotic quota and assist in ensuring that the new measures put in place by the CBN guarantee the stability of the financial market as well as the growth and development of the economy to the benefit of all Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the interbank forex market traded $540,000 on Monday in early deals at N375 per dollar, near a record low exchange rate hit last November, Thomson Reuters data showed.

The local currency traded at a record low of 375.50 to the dollar last November on the official interbank market before it reversed the losses.

Traders said banks were selling dollars bought from international money transfer agents to retail customers at N375.

The interbank market traded a total of $3.77 million at multiple exchange rates on Monday, the data showed. It was quoted at 305.25 per dollar at 9:51 am.

In February, the central bank effectively devalued the naira for private individuals, offering to sell the currency at around half the premium charged on the black market, in a bid to narrow the spread on the unofficial market.

The currency was quoted at 465 on the black market, 1.5 per cent down from Friday’s close, as pressure was starting to pile up in that market segment despite a series of central bank intervention on the official market to boost liquidity.

modath:
Me I'm not going to do a long back & forth... Analysts (90% correct) i respect have already dissected this move & so far, their analysis have been on point... in just one week , the rates started creeping back up without breaking the 420 barrier... They can keep pumping till reserves dry up..

Fundamental issues of LACKLUSTRE OIL PRICES, horrible fiscal policies, import dependency, mono economy, infrastructural damage ,extravagant desires for foreign made goods won't disaapear in a jiffy...

I repeat, until cards are enabled & CBN sustains this till summer (peak travel period) & september foreifn school fees rush, then they can be taken serious, now it's still film trick...

I love my country & want her progress, peace and prosperity everyday but I'm an optimistic REALIST...

*mic drop*

In Nov. I was contacted by a 99.3 Nigeria info fm presenter to give my projection on oil cut, I projected $55 a barrel against most Nigerian analysts of $45 and explained if we are able to up production after OPEC consensus is reached that the Naira will gradually appreciate against the dollar. Not only was I right, but beats NLNG general projection.

Again, you based your submission mainly on lacklustre oil prices, this is not true after OPEC reach consensus and Saudi has pledged to cut production again in September per adventure shale increase production. This was after OPEC report showed over 90% adherence to November 30 pledge.

On the issue of import, it will take time for diversification strategy to fully crystallise. The truth is all you mentioned except the oil has no direct effect on the current forex policy.

Also, remember that most of this analysts have vested interest, imagine Henry Boyo predicting 1000/$. Lets allow CBN. Happy New week modath

modath:
If CBN can really meet demands as they are posturing, all banks would have enabled their cards to work on international platforms... Only Access & GT allow a $100 monthly limit as we speak so what are we saying exactly.

Dear FG/CBN informants, Please inform them to allow our cards work on online platforms & @ the 320 range of GT & Access, then we can pay to watch this "currency battle" movie...

It's still very obvious they are in desperate mode...

The issue is not the CBN but commercial banks, these banks have foreign financial obligations they are meeting and that was one of the reasons they fought CBN to allow them use their forex as they deem fit instead of the 60:40 policy instituted by the CBN to aid the manufacturing sector.

modath:
OP, The 24hrs condition is for PTA/ BTA, while school fees/Medical is 48hrs... However there is a limit to what the "pump" action will achieve....subsidizing foreign travel in off peak season is mere band aid, summer is when people travel, september is when fees are paid, This FG/CBN fim ending we all know.

I am no economists but even i know quite well this russian roulette won't end well.....

P.S... Are manufacturers getting adequate forex?

Similarly, banks are mandated to process and meet the demand for travel allowances by end-users within 24 hours of such application as long as the basic requirements are met. Equally, banks are mandated to process and meet demands for school fees and medical bills within 48 hours of such application.

Over $1.1 billion have been spent on manufacturing sector and others to clear backlogs.

donsteady:
This is a temporary solution, no smart investor will want to play these kind of fooolish game. You can't give 25% demands and expect magic. Demand of dollar is higher than supply. You will have to balance it first befor you talk about stability. Where are the gurus? Plz come and correct me

How are you sure its 25% of total fx demands the CBN is meeting? If it's so, the Naira won't have gained this much, currency hoarders, speculators have a lot of dollars in hand and now in trouble with the CBN actions. If they fail to start bringing it out this week and cut their losses I am sorry, it will get worse as CBN seems to just be getting started. CBN wants to force them to sell or face forex glut that will worsen their situation.

So genuine local and foreign investors will jump in, except the ones planning to profit from the capital market using weak forex rates to aid profitability at the expense of the economy/masses. Nigeria is not buying that as we are not running a free floated currency policy.

The Nigerian Naira is expected to reverse the losses recorded against the US dollar and other foreign currencies last week following the Central Bank of Nigeria intervention on Friday.

The apex bank sold another $350 million in an auction forward contract to further boost market liquidity and complement the $1 million weekly allocations to each of the 21 commercial banks in the country.

Foreign exchange experts have said the local currency will remain steady in coming days as the currency has responded positively to the CBN’s action to close the gap between the official and parallel market rates.

According to Mr. Johnson Chwukwu, the Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Assets Management Limited, “The pressure is beginning to come back. But if the CBN continues with the intervention, the naira may gain this week. But I think the CBN will be cautious on the intervention in order not to compromise the external reserves.”

The local currency had gained about N60 since the CBN introduced the new forex policy to close at N465 on Friday, from a record low of N525 to a US dollar reached on the parallel market.

While at the interbank market, the naira traded at 305.25 to a dollar on Friday, the same level it has traded since August 2016.

However, in order to further ensure end-users have easy access to forex at CBN’s stipulated rates, the Central Bank on Sunday roll out additional directives to all commercial banks across the country, mandating them to open a teller point for all retail FX transactions and ensure access to foreign exchange by their customers without any hindrance.

Also, the apex bank directed all banks to have an electronic display board in all their branches, showing rates of all currencies, and Customers are advised by the apex bank to insist on processing their FX transactions based on the displayed rates.

Similarly, banks are mandated to process and meet the demand for travel allowances by end-users within 24 hours of such application as long as the basic requirements are met. Equally, banks are mandated to process and meet demands for school fees and medical bills within 48 hours of such application.

http://investorsking.com/naira-to-reverse-losses-this-week-banks-to-process-fx-transactions-within-24hrs/

The United States almost tripled the volume of crude oil bought from Nigeria last year, seven years after it began to depend less on the country’s crude as shale oil production surged.

The latest data from the US Energy Information Administration seen by our correspondent on Friday showed that the country imported 76.9 million barrels of Nigerian oil in 2016, up from 19.9 million barrels in 2015.

In 2014, when global oil prices started to fall from a peak of $115 per barrel, Nigeria saw a further drop in the US imports of its crude from 87.4 million barrels in 2013 to a record low of 21.2 million barrels.

For the first time in decades, the US did not purchase any barrel of Nigerian crude in July and August 2014, according to the EIA data.

In 2010, the US bought as much as 358.9 million barrels from Nigeria, but slashed its imports to 280.1 million barrels and 148.5 million barrels in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

But the recent increase in the US imports of Nigerian crude is being threatened as shale oil production gathers fresh momentum on the back of the rally in global oil prices.

The US shale production for March is expected to rise by the most in five months as energy companies ramp up drilling, with the EIA forecasting that production in seven major regions will rise by a total of 80,000 bpd to 4.87 million bpd.

Global oil benchmark, Brent crude, has been trading above $50 per barrel in recent months, up from a record of low of $27 per barrel in January 2016.

Industry analysts said the rising shale oil production in the US could upend efforts by major producers including the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to bring global supply and demand for crude back into balance.

The Head of Energy Research, Ecobank Group, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said the higher oil prices could potentially make it attractive for the US oil exports to reach markets as far as Asia.

He said this could potentially create a challenge for Nigerian crude grades, resulting in a similar cut in prices across grades such as had to be done in 2016.

“While the country managed to export an average of 200,000 barrels per day to the US in 2016 due to decline in shale production, resurgence in shale production as oil prices rise and stay above $50 could see our exports to the US also shrink,” Oni added.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had on Wednesday said Nigeria and other OPEC members must lower production costs to compete better with shale oil producers.

OPEC members along with 11 non-OPEC countries had on November 30 agreed to cut their oil production for the first half of 2017, although Nigeria and Libya were exempted due to production setbacks they suffered last year.

India had in 2013 emerged as the single largest importer of crude oil from Nigeria after significant drop in the US imports amid the shale oil boom.

From 2004 to 2007, Nigeria exported over one million bpd to the US, but a surge of the US domestic production that was of similar quality, including shale oil, later forced African light sweet crude producers, especially Nigeria, to find new destinations for their exports.

http://investorsking.com/us-increases-imports-nigerian-oil-287/ mynd44

Sabergol99:
I read some comments and am simply astounded by the level of intellectual simplicity from a lot of our youths. We must take time to read, analyze and ponder before making utterances and not simply commenting based on blind loyalty or mere emotions. While our foreign earnings may have leaped in Q4, the fact remains that this can be attributed solely to increase in the prices of crude oil and relative stability in the Niger delta thereby increasing production. What we must not fail to realize though is that compared to our trade balances of the last 3 years, we are steering away from the so called diversification agenda of our economy. What this means is that another crash in the price of crude oil or bombing of pipelines would send sockwaves round the economy and could potentially bring it to its knees, again! The import substitution Agenda doesn't appear to be working either, or at least is very slow. Smh... Let's keep watching anyways...

To be honest, it is actually a negative report presented to the masses positively, and coming from Reuters shows how much weight our economic matters carry on the global front. The economy actually did badly in the quarter when you factor in 305/$ official rate -- which we all know only a few manufacturers can access, most of them patronise the parallel market.

Now here is the logic, in 2014 our total trade balance was 24 trillion at N155/$, while 2015 was N16 trillion at N199/$. To celebrate a N17 trillion total trade balance at N305/$ in 2016 is actually wrong and about to get even worse going by the CBN report of the manufacturing sector activities last week. N17 trillion trade balance is about N9 trillion in 2014 and N11 trillion in 2015.

While our 4th quarter is even worse, the N3 trillion exports is just N1.5 trillion (2014) in an almost 200m population and N1.9 trillion in 2015. Therefore, the positive trade balance recorded in the final quarter of 2016 was due to high foreign exchange rates that made it impossible for most manufacturers to import in large capacity when compared to the same quarter in proceeding years, festive period. But rather capitalised on surging forex rate by exporting their goods for more profit at the expense of the masses. Even with all the high foreign exchange rates and challenges, it is still deficit trade balance (y-o-y) and with the current booming oil prices, it will take years to have a real trade surplus.

sholatech:
I really don't see the relationship you trying to enlighten us between the budget & defence of Naira with balance on the reserves. I indicated the defence of the Naira will slow down the growth of our reserves. I still maintain that our Naira is been defended by our foreign reserves & Cbn intervention is from this.

No, not the recent intervention. It is not from our foreign reserves but oil revenue generation. People should know the difference.

Here is a link to CBN foreign reserves statement https://www.cbn.gov.ng/IntOps/Reserve.asp?MoveDate=3/2/2017%2011:44:07%20PM