Business
CBN increases lending interest rate to 17.5%
The Central Bank of Nigeria has raised its benchmark lending rate to 17.5 per cent ostensibly to contain the inflationary pressure in the country.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced this Tuesday after the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting that began Monday.
Speaking at the end of the two-day meeting in Abuja, Emefiele said the committee voted to keep the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR.
He also disclosed that the MPC voted to keep the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 32.5 per cent, as well as the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
The CRR is the share of a bank’s total customer deposit that must be kept with the central bank in form of liquid cash, while the bank’s liquidity ratio is the proportion of deposits and other assets they must maintain to be able to meet short-term obligations.
In November, the MPC raised its benchmark lending rate to 16.5 per cent in a sustained push to control inflation and ease pressure on the naira.
In December, the nation’s statistics bureau said Nigeria’s s inflation figure dipped to 21.34 per cent from 21.47 per cent in November after 10 straight monthly increases. In the same month, the statistics bureau said food inflation which is one of the driving forces of Headline Inflation dropped to 23.75 per cent from 24.13 per cent a month earlier.
On Tuesday, Mr Emefiele announced that the committee welcomed the recent deceleration in the nation’s inflation rates, noting that the persistence in the policy rate increase over the last few meetings of the committee has started to yield the expected decline in inflation.
The committee deliberated on either to hike rates further or hold to examine the impact of the last four rate increases, Mr Emefiele said, adding that the options considered were primarily to hold the rate or tighten further to consolidate the previous gains.
However, the MPC noted that loosening the rate will gravely undermine the gains of the last four increases, hence the hike in rate.
Business
Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$
Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$
The Nigerian currency, naira, on Thursday slightly depreciated at the official market, trading at N1,402.67 to the dollar.
Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), showed that the naira lost N11.71
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This represents a 0.84 per cent loss when compared to the previous trading date on Tuesday April 30, when it exchanged at 1,390.96 to a dollar.
However, the total daily turnover increased to 232.84 million dollars on Thursday, up from 225.36 million dollars recorded on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the naira traded between 1,445.00 and N1,299.42 against the dollar.
Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$
Auto
Appeal court takes over NURTW case as NIC withdraws
Appeal court takes over NURTW case as NIC withdraws
The National Industrial Court has withdrawn from a case involving Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin, Board of Trustees chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa’s ambition to return as president of the union over lack of jurisdiction.
The industrial court’s decision was made to avoid conflict with the Court of Appeal, where the matter is already being heard.
Before the NIC announced its decision to hands-off the case, the defendants’ counsel, Mr. O.I. Olorundare SAN, had informed the court that the matter is currently before the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, and that the industrial court could not continue to adjudicate on the same matter.
The counsel cited authorities to support his claim, adding that the National Industrial Court does not have concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Appeal.
The presiding judge, O.O. Oyewunmi, struck out the case, stating that the Appeal Court had taken over the matter and that the Industrial Court must respect the hierarchy of courts.
Alhaji Yasin and six others took the case to the Appeal Court, challenging the decision of the industrial court recognising a delegates’ conference held on May 24, 2023, where Baruwa was proclaimed as President of the union for a second term in office.
With the latest NIC judgement, both parties will now proceed to defend their positions at the Court of Appeal and await the final judgement.
Business
Multichoice shuns court order, proceeds with increase of DSTV, Gotv packages
Multichoice shuns court order, proceeds with increase of DSTV, Gotv packages
Despite the intervention of the CCPT, Multichoice Limited has proceeded to increase packages price for DSTV and GOTV as announce on Wednesday last week.
Newstrends had earlier reported that the corporation announced that the new rates will go into effect on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in a statement.
Meanwhile, on Monday, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited was ordered by the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) in Abuja to suspend the planned prices and tariffs hike on packages and services.
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The three-member tribunal, presided over by Saratu Shafii, gave the interim order following an ex-parte motion moved by Ejiro Awaritoma, counsel for the applicant, Festus Onifade.
News prices includes: DStv, Premium bouquet, the price moved from N29,500 to N37,000; Compact+ from N19,800 to N25,000; Compact from N12,500 to N15,700; Confam from N7,400 to N9,300, among others.
For GOtv users, Supa+ increased from N12,500 to N15,700; Supa moved from N7,600 to N9,600; Max from N5,700 to N7,200; Jolli, from N3,950 to N4,850, among others.
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