Business
Naira maintains tiny gain at 1,275/$ parallel market rate
Naira maintains tiny gain at 1,275/$ parallel market rate
The naira has demonstrated signs of strengthening against the United States dollar, appreciating by N125 to reach N1,275/$1 over the weekend.
The new rate represents a 9.8 per cent increase when compared to N1,400 to a dollar it traded at the close of trading activity on Friday.
This came as the Senate through its Committee on Finance called for concerted efforts by all relevant stakeholders to rescue and sustain its stability.
The senate said there was an urgent need for concerted efforts to tackle the instability and continuous depreciation of the Naira.
Currency traders at the popular Wuse Zone 4 market, who spoke with one of our correspondents on Sunday, blamed trading uncertainty of the market as reason for the fluctuations in the exchange rate.
They added that the government must either to choose to increase the currency value or devalue for market stability.
The operators did not provide a selling rate for Sunday, citing the absence of trading activity.
A trader, Malam Yahu Ibrahim, said operators were taking too much risk trading the naira due to its instability.
He said, “We take risks against ourselves every day because I don’t know how they are doing it, the naira is just swinging. “If the government wants to bring down the dollar totally, they should do it or if they want the naira to fall, they should do it and not allow it to fluctuate. It is killing businesses.”
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“We are not even seeing the effect of the CBN dollar sale to BDCs, we are not seeing any effect.”
Another trader, Abubakar Taura, had in an earlier interview, expressed caution in trading activity, citing ongoing concerns that the CBN might take some drastic measures to stabilise the naira.
He noted that they couldn’t guarantee or predict what the rate would be on Monday (today) due to the volatile nature of the market.
The recovery in value coincides with plans by the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria to unify the retail end of the foreign currency market.
ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe, said the move would tackle volatility and boost regulatory compliance within that segment of the market.
He said, “Part of our vision for a united retail-end forex market includes activating geo-mapping and automated BDCs physical office verification exercise using the Remote Gravity Physical verification apps. This will enable forex buyers to easily locate BDCs offices for effective and seamless transactions.”
Before the marginal gain, the naira had lost 26.2 per cent in two weeks when compared to N1,125 per dollar quoted on April 12, 2023, on the parallel market, popularly called the black market.
Last Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria approved the allocation of $15.83m to 1,583 BDC operators to enhance liquidity in the unofficial market.
Meanwhile, data from FMDQ securities exchange showed that the naira continued its downward trend against the greenback at the official foreign exchange window, closing at N1,339/$ on Friday.
This represents a 2.24 per cent depreciation when compared to the N1,309/$ quoted on Thursday, highlighting a full week of depreciation at the official market.
Trading between willing buyers and sellers reached a total of $1bn at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market.
Naira maintains tiny gain at 1,275/$ parallel market rate
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
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
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
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.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
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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