| The Punch says that Central Bank of Nigeria injected $4.37bn into the foreign exchange market in the third quarter of 2020 as part of efforts to ensure the stability of the naira. The CBN disclosed this in its third-quarter economic report.
The bank said through its periodic interventions in the forex market, it continued to boost the supply side of the market, as COVID-19 crisis weakened the private sector supply chain segment of the market.
Part of the report read, “During the third quarter of 2020, total foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers by the bank amounted to $4.37bn, a decline of 2.3 per cent from the level in the preceding quarter.
“This was attributed largely to the decrease in wholesale forward intervention and interbank sales. The total foreign exchange sales represented a decrease of 56.4 per cent, compared with the corresponding quarter of 2019.”
It added, “Further disaggregation showed that matured swap transactions and SMIS intervention rose by 50.8 percent and 0.7 percent to $1.24bn and $1.96bn, from the levels in the preceding quarter.
The newspaper reports that all commodity group import index rose by 1.89 percent between July and September 2020.
The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its ‘Commodity price index July to September, 2020’ report.
This was driven mainly by an increase in the prices of products of the chemical and allied industries (9.55 percent), wood and articles of wood (4.37 per cent), and live animals; animal products (4.06 per cent).
However, it was negatively affected by decline in the prices of prepared food stuff; beverages (-5.07 percent), textile and textile articles (-1.07 percent) and raw hides and skin, leather (-0.92 percent).
The Sun says that the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed fear that some provisions of the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) could adversely affect growth of the industry and economy.
Emphasising its support for government’s efforts at driving industry reform through a new PIB, the chamber noted that the key objectives of the PIB 2020, among others, which include reforming the institutional and fiscal framework, developing Nigeria’s gas sector further, creating a framework to support the development of host communities, foster sustainable prosperity and bringing in new investments to grow the country’s production capacity were positive steps toward achieving its stated goals.
It also acknowledged that the bill mandates that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) consult with the commission prior to introducing overlapping legislation which will impact the oil and gas industry, allows for consultation with industry stakeholders before making regulations and commercialisation of NNPC to improve business efficiency and effectiveness, especially in relation to Joint Venture activities.
The chamber, however, noted that some of these improvements appear insufficient to deliver the true value which the bill aims to achieve. Director General of the chamber, Dr Muda Yusuf, who stated this on Sunday, explained that Nigeria, with the largest oil and gas reserves in Africa, has huge untapped potential to achieve its economic development goals including gas-to-power ambitions.
The newspaper says that the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has said its intervention is targeting about 3000 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with a special focus on female entrepreneurs.
This is even as the foundation disclosed that over 1,000 entrepreneurs from the 2020 cohort would be empowered through the Foundation’s entrepreneurship programme this year.
Its Chief Executive Officer, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, stated this during the unveiling of the TEF 2021 Programme/Application portal in Lagos at the weekend.
Ugochukwu noted that shortly after the close of the 2020 application portal, the foundation could not continue with the programme due to restrictions in various economies owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to postpone it to 2021.
She said the African continent is critical to global recovery and this is why TEF is partnering with the European Union (EU) to fund and train 2,400 women entrepreneurs across Africa through increased finance and venture capital investment worth €20 million.
The Nation reports that the Federal Government is owing N15.85 trillion in domestic debts, with almost three-quarters of the debts due to bondholders.
The fixed-return debts place obligation on the government to make regular interest or coupon payment and redemption as at when due.
The latest breakdown of the national debts obtained at the weekend showed that the Federal Government owed domestic sovereign bondholders N11.65 trillion, 73.53 percent of total domestic debts as at third quarter ended September 30, last year.
The report by the Debt Management Office (DMO), which oversees government’s debt issues, indicated that about 17.17 percent or N2.72 trillion were due to domestic investors in Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) while N100.99 billion or 0.64 percent and N12.561 billion or 0.08 percent were due to investors in Nigerian Treasury Bonds and FGN Savings Bonds.
Other domestic debts by the government included FGN Sukuk N362.557 billion or 2.29 percent; Green Bonds, N25.69 billion or 0.16 percent and Promissory Notes, N971.88 billion or 6.13 percent.
|
