Businesses reject old notes, await CBN, FG’s confirmation – Newstrends
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Businesses reject old notes, await CBN, FG’s confirmation

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Some old Naira notes

The  nationwide confusion trailing Nigeria’s Naira redesign policy continued yesterday as business owners, retailers and transporters continued to reject the old naira notes despite the Supreme Court’s extension of the validity of the notes to December 31, 2023.

This is coming after Daily Sun findings on Monday revealed that banks across the country resumed dispensing the old N500 and N1,000 notes.

The apex court had on Friday ruled that the old notes remained legal tender in Nigeria till December 31, 2023. But despite this ruling, the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have yet to comment on the matter, leaving businesses in quandry.

As of yesterday, a look at the CBN’s website and social media handles showed that the apex bank was yet to make an official announcement on the ruling.

About 16 Nigerian state governors pushed back against the policy, suing the Federal Government, urging the court to put a hold on the policy.

But so far, there has been uncertainty over whether the court had jurisdiction, or whether the CBN, an independent body, should obey the court’s judgment as it was not a party to the suit.

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Daily Sun also observed that some banks especially in Lagos metropolis continued to dispense old notes, stressing they got a directive from the apex bank to do so.

Meanwhile long queues remained at various banking halls and automated teller machines (ATMs) as customers continued their search for cash withdrawals.

Some bankers who agreed to speak to Daily Sun on the condition of anonymity said, “We have started paying old notes and that is because we got a mail from the our bank MDs mandating that a directive was issued by the CBN that we can pay these old notes to customers”

A staff of one of the old generation banks, stated, “We have not started paying these old notes to customers because we are yet to get such a directive to do so. However, the ones paying these old notes are the ones that still have the old notes in their vaults. It is not as if the CBN is supplying the notes because they want to mop up these old notes and introduce the new ones”.

According to the CBN data for January 2023, currency outside the vaults of banks stood at N788.92 billion.

As at yesterday, most business owners refused to accept the old notes, stating that the CBN was yet to respond to the Supreme Court ruling  Jane Nwando, a businesswoman at Balogun Market, said, “The fact that the CBN and the Presidency are yet to comment makes it all confusing.

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PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

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Port Harcourt Refinery

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.

A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.

Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.

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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”

He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.

“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”

 

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

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Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%

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Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.

This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.

The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.

The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.

He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.

The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.

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Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS

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Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS

 

Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.

The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.

The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.

“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.

“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.

“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”

Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.

Employment rate – 76%

The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.

“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.

Self-employment – 85.6%

The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.

It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”

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