Naira records five-month highest gain, sells below N1000/$ at parallel market

The naira continued its positive showing against the United States dollar on Monday, selling below N1000/$ in some segments of the parallel market.

Newstrends reports that the Federal Government, groups and some individuals have mounted a spirited campaign for those hoarding the dollars to push them out as naira continues to appreciate.

On Monday, the naira was offered in some parts of Lagos and Abuja between N995 and N1,050 per dollar in the parallel market. It was N1,230/$ on Friday.
The latest gain, being over five-month highs, came in the wake of the Iranian attack on Israel and a rise in the crude oil price.
Goldman Sachs, American investment bank economists, had earlier predicted that the naira’s bullish momentum on the foreign exchange market would likely cause it to trade for less than N1,000 per US dollar in the coming months.
According to a report by Nairametrics, the group claimed that the rally in Nigerian currency helped recover from large losses after two devaluations since last June by being bolstered by capital inflows and successive interest rate hikes.
In March, Goldman Sachs projected that the Naira would appreciate to N1,200 per dollar in 2024.

At the official foreign exchange market, the rate was put at N1,136/$ in contrast with N1,205/$ last Friday.

The top bank has implemented several policy initiatives in recent months to bring stability to the foreign exchange market.
The CBN increased interest rates to 24.75% at the most recent meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which helped it recover losses from the two devaluations that occurred since June of last year.
Further gains for the naira result from the CBN’s ongoing intervention, which involves selling foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators at a revised rate.
The market anticipates higher inflows of US dollars from the sale of foreign currency bonds in the second quarter as disclosed by Finance Minister Wale Edun.

The Federal Government has just offered high-yield short-term debt products at a premium to entice overseas capital into the economy.

The Middle East’s geopolitical unrest and
Notwithstanding a drop in Nigeria’s production volume, crude oil prices have risen beyond $90.

Nigerian grades of oil are trading at a premium to the ICE Brent benchmark.

The Middle East’s geopolitical unrest and the anticipation of an Iranian government strike on Israel caused oil prices to soar.

Breaking: Nigeria’s inflation rises to 33.2%, says NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the nation’s inflation rate rose to 33.2 per cent for the month of March 2024.

This represents a 1.5 per cent increase over 32.7 per cent recorded in February 2024.

The NBS disclosed this in a new report released on Monday.

It explained that the rise was primarily due to higher costs of food, beverages, energy, and housing. Compared to February 2024, the inflation rate in March increased at a slower pace, with food inflation reaching 40.01% year-on-year.

NBS attributed the spike in food prices to the rising costs of items like garri, millet, yam tubers, and others. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation slightly decreased to 3.62% in March 2024.

Urban inflation also increased to 35.18% year-on-year in March 2024, while rural inflation stood at 31.45%.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy, was 25.90% year-on-year in March 2024.

Overall, the rising cost of living in Nigeria is evident in the significant increase in inflation rates across different categories.

It is crucial for policymakers to address these challenges to alleviate the financial burden on the population.

Nigeria’s oil production drops by 2.8 million barrels in one month 

The Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has confirmed the data released by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), indicating a consecutive decline in Nigeria’s oil production for the second month in a row.

According to NUPRC reports, crude drilling operations in March saw a notable decrease, with production dropping from 1.42 million barrels per day (bpd) in January to 1.23 million bpd in March, marking a significant loss of approximately 2.8 million barrels over the month.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, acknowledged the declining trend, attributing it to issues on the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) and maintenance activities by oil companies in Nigeria during the period.

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However, beyond crude oil, condensate production, which typically falls outside OPEC’s quota calculation, also experienced a decline in March, further exacerbating Nigeria’s overall production slump.