Economic News Update

Business and Economic News Update: Wednesday 5th July, 2017

 

FMDQ OTC: Investors Stake N54.8tn in Five Months

Investors have traded a total of N54.75 trillion in the fixed income and currency market between January and May 2017. Of the transactions, N9.49 trillion was exchanged in the month of May alone, which was 7.9 per cent higher than the N8.79trillion traded in April.

According to the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, the month-on-month growth was primarily driven by increased trading activities experienced in the FX (Spot) and Repurchase Agreements (Repos)/Buy-Backs product categories.

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N3.57tn borrowed in 21 months to finance budget deficit –FG

The Federal Government said on Tuesday that it borrowed N3.57tn between June 2015 and March 2017 to finance budget deficits.

The government said this in response to an enquiry by The PUNCH, which sought to know what use it had put the funds being borrowed in the last two years from both external and local sources.

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Zenith, FBN, GTbank, Access, UBA, Diamond among Top 1000 Global Banks

Six Nigerian banks which included Zenith Plc, FirstBank Nigeria Limited, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Diamond Bank Plc were ranked among The Banker Magazine’s Top 25 Banks in Africa that was released last night, in the magazine’s 2017 1000 Global Banks’ ranking.

According to the ranking, Zenith Bank was placed first in Nigeria and 10th in Africa. The bank was also ranked as the 430th bank in the world.

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CBN deputy governor emerges Etisalat chairman

The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Joseph Nnanna, has emerged as the new Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, and will henceforth lead the company’s new Board of Directors.

The CBN and the Nigerian Communications Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that they took the decision on the new appointments after several weeks of meeting in order to save the telecommunications firm from closing shop.

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The Task before New DG of DMO

By the time Dr. Abraham Nwankwo stepped down as the Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO) last week, the office had become one of the most critical institutions of the federal government driving the economic reform agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

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Citibank gives Accion MfB N500m loan

Citibank Nigeria has extended a loan of N500m to Accion Microfinance Bank to promote the development of the microfinance sector in Nigeria.

The loan will fund Accion’s loan portfolio and support the development of approximately 5,000 Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises in the country, according to a statement by the lender.

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Manufacturers’ raw materials inventory rises on steady forex supply

With the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sustaining its foreign exchange intervention in the real sector for importation of key raw materials, the manufacturing sector’s raw materials inventory index grew for the third consecutive month to close at 52.3 points.

This is just as the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased to 52.9 index points in June 2017, showing expansion in the manufacturing sector for the third consecutive month.

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NNPC gets $2bn discount on re-negotiated contract

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has secured a $2bn discount from re-negotiated upstream contracts being executed by its various service providers in the last one year.

The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru, made this known in a message to mark one year of his headship of the organisation.

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Lagos Appoints Seven Insurance Firms to Manage Liabilities

Following recurrent cases of accidents and deaths among members of all registered cooperative societies in the state, the Lagos State Government, has appointed a consortium of seven insurance companies to mitigate losses that they might incur.

The Lagos State Cooperative Federation (LASCOFED) has put the capital base of cooperative societies in the state at over N100 billion, which it said, had been on steady increase despite the economic recession that crippled governance in almost all the states of the federation.

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Guinness Nigeria receives SEC, NSE approvals to float N39.7bn issue

Guinness Nigeria Plc has received the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s approvals to float a rights issue of N39.70bn.

The company said in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos that it had received clearance of the issue documents from both regulators to list the new shares on the NSE. It said that the funds raised would support the company in executing its strategy in the context of ongoing external economic challenges.

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Diversify Revenue Base to Avert Debt Crisis, FG Urged

The federal government has been advised to further diversify the country’s revenue base or start reducing the level of its debt by rapidly selling some national assets, in order to avert a debt crisis in the medium term.

Analysts at Afrinvest West Africa Limited gave the advice in a report. However, they stressed that they do not expect a debt crisis in the near term.

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Fed Govt hires tech giants to end recession

Nigeria is hiring United States (U.S.) technology giants such as Oracle and Microsoft as the government invests more to save costs and fight corruption.

An initiative led by Redwood, California-based Oracle has enabled the government to remove 50,000 so-called ghost workers, or fake entries, from the payroll, according to a presidency statement June 29. That followed Oracle’s decision to open an office in Abuja, the capital, in May.

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Lagos Unveils State-owned IBILE MFB

The Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade has revealed that the state government is committed to reducing poverty and unemployment in the state through its newly established IBILE microfinance bank.

A statement on Monday quoted Ashade to have given the assurance at the unveiling ceremony to officially introduce the bank, which is located at Ikeja. He further disclosed that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was committed to his promise of making life better for the residents of the state.

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