Nigeria to Mint Currency for Ghana, Others

Currency notes of Ghana, Ivory Coast and other countries would soon be printed by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc, its managing director, Joseph Ugbo, revealed yesterday.

He told the House of Representatives committee on banking and currency at the 2015 budget defence that apart from the notes, other security documents of the countries would also be printed by the NSPM.

Ugbo said an installation of newly procured state-of-the-art machines for security documents has since commenced.

He said the installations are aimed at perfecting final preparation in the build up to the production of the bank notes and other security documents required by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The managing director said the Lagos and Abuja facilities of the company can produce 1.2 billion and 1.4 billion bank notes while the new facility could print 1.2 billion notes.

Chairman of the committee Rep Jones Onyeriri however queried the N200 million earmarked as exit incentives as against the N150 million in 2014 as well as N50 million for the year-end gift by the company.

IMF Directors Propose Naira Devaluation

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for the implementation of reforms, including the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira in order to shield the country from risks presented by uncertainties characterizing the economy.

The call follows the IMF directors concluding the Article IV consultation 1 with Nigeria last week.

According to IMF, during the consultation, executive directors commended the authorities for progress in promoting Nigeria’s economic diversification and for their macroeconomic response to collapsing export prices.

According to the statement, the directors agreed that tightening fiscal policy and allowing the exchange rate to depreciate while using some of the reserve buffer were appropriate responses to the recent fall in oil prices.

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CBN fixes spread on dollar sales by oil firms

 

Nigeria's central bank has fixed the rate at which banks can buy dollars from oil companies at not more than 2 naira spread to its clearing rate, dealers said, its latest attempt to prop up the currency hit by the drop in oil prices.

The naira crashed through the psychologically important level of 200 to the dollar last month in a rout triggered by weak oil prices and escalating tension over the postponement of a presidential election in Africa's biggest economy.

The central bank has pledged to stabilize the naira and has been deploying various measures.

Dealers said the central bank did not issue a formal circular on the directive, but instead resorted to persuasion, adding that the total outstanding dollar demand of about $600 million was unmet.

The local unit of Royal Dutch Shell sold an undisclosed amount of dollars this week, as well as Brass LNG and Eni but the sales have failed to buoy the naira.

Oil companies usually sell dollars through an auction to lenders to buy naira to fund their local operations.

The naira closed at 197 to the dollar on Thursday, firmer than 199.9 its ended on Wednesday.

Petroleum Marketers to get outstanding N185bn

 

 The Federal government  says it has issued a sovereign debt note to Petroleum marketers for the payment of an outstanding 185 billion Naira.

The Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, announced this at a joint press briefing with the CBN, NNPC, DMO and Petroleum marketers in Abuja.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala  said the petroleum marketers  in December 2014 were paid a total of 320 Billion Naira, adding that as part of the agreement, the government would not only pay the costs that the marketers had incurred, but also the interests payment and foreign exchange differentials.

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Inspite of fall in oil price, naira devaluation, Nigeria still remains biggest economy in Africa - FG

 

The Federal government says inspite of the fall in oil price and naira devaluation, Nigeria still remains the biggest economy in Africa.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said compared to other countries that have been impacted with the fall in Oil price, Nigeria is managing the situation well and is expected to grow because it has a robust non-oil economy.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala added that the federal government is taking some measures that will help stabilize the naira and ensure those key programs and critical areas that impact on people, are not too affected.

SON Threatens To Publish Names Of Importers Of Fake Goods

 

 The Standards Organisation of Nigeria says it may release a list of compliant importers who import cargoes that meet its standards.

Head, Inspectorate and Compliance of SON, Bede Obayi said the list would be published on SON”s website to guide the public to buy the right products and ensure the eradication of substandard products in the country.

Mr. Obayi urged consumers to avoid the use of Sunrise Cables because they are totally fake and poses danger to life and properties adding that cables should be purchased from manufacturers only.

Nigeria Aims To Raise N95 Billion At Bond Auction

The Debt Management Office (DMO), says Nigeria plans to raise N95 billion by selling sovereign bonds with maturities ranging between 5 and 20 years on March 11.

The debt office said on Wednesday, that it will raise N35 billion in 5-year bonds and N35 billion each in the 10 and 20-year paper, using the Dutch auction system.

It added that all the bonds are a re-openings of previous issues and the result of the auction is expected to be published on March 12.

Nigerian naira flat vs dollar in thin trade

 

 Nigeria's naira currency closed flat against the dollar on the interbank market on Wednesday in thin trade in which two energy companies made dollar sales, traders said.



The local currency closed unchanged at 199.9 to the dollar, the same level at which it closed on Tuesday.
Unit of Royal Dutch Shell sold an undisclosed amount of dollars to some lenders, while Brass LNG sold $600,000 in the market, providing some liquidity support but not enough to boost the naira value.

The central bank had set its intervention rate at 196.8/197.8 to the dollar on Wednesday, while lenders are still awaiting a decision on dollar sale by the bank.

The currency of Africa's top crude exporter has been trading within a band of 198-200 since last week due to support from dollar sales by some energy companies who want local currency for month-end domestic obligations.

FG Assures of sufficient supply of fuel before weekend

 Nigeria's finance minister and coordinator of the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says over a billion litres of petrol are currently being supplied, to ease the fuel scarcity being experienced across the country.

Speaking to the press at a joint briefing with Petroleum markers, NNPC, DMO and the Central bank of Nigeria Governor, in Abuja, Okonjo-Iweala said efforts have been intensified by the concern parties to ensure that before the weekend Nigerians will have enough supply of fuel. She however debunked the claims that scarcity was as a result of the unpaid subsidy as being speculated in some quarters.

Speaking further the Executive Secretaries of the Major oil marketers association of Nigeria, Obafemi Olowore, and  Olufemi Adewole of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, assured Nigerians of the availability of the product before Friday as the scarcity is already easing off in Lagos.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) had been instructed to issue Sovereign Debt Notes (SDNs) to cover N100 billion out of the N185 billion agreed upon as balance for the next payments and that the CBN had also given approvals for the banks to issue letters of credit.

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13 ships laden with foods, petroleum products arrive Lagos ports

Thirteen ships laden with foods, general cargo and petroleum products have arrived Lagos ports waiting to berth.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) made the announcement on Tuesday in Lagos in its daily publication, the Shipping Position.The document indicated that four of the ships arrived with petrol while a ship brought kerosene.

It explained that six of the ships sailed into the ports with rice while two ships came in with general cargo and crude palm oil.

According to the document, 41 other ships are expected in the ports from Feb. 25 to March 24. It stated that 17 of the expected ships would arrive with containers. Seven would sail in with petrol, three with kerosene.

Three other ships would bring base oil, bulk gas and diesel.

The document indicated that frozen fish, rice, bulk salt and bulk sugar would come in six ships while the remaining five ships would sail in with general cargo.

Bill Gates is named world's richest person again

Bill Gates has been declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time by Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires.

The Microsoft founder once again beat Mexican businessman Carlos Slim to the top spot. Mr Gates' net worth rose by just over $3bn (£1.94bn) in the year to 13 February, to $79bn.

There are a record 1,826 billionaires in the world, Forbes said, an increase of 181 in the past 12 months.

Mr Gates has now been top of the list for 16 of the last 21 years, Forbes added.

Legendary US investor Warren Buffett regained third place in the list with a net worth of $72.7bn, from Amancio Ortega, the founder of Spanish fashion chain Zara.

SUMMARY OF STOCK TAKING OF PMS AT ALL DEPOTS ON JANUARY 19, 2015

CALABAR ZONE REPORT RECEIVED

CATEGORY PMS QTY. GOV (LTRS)
 NNPC/PPMC 6,839,736.00
 MAJOR MARKETERS
INDEPENDENT
MARKETERS 112408,933.00
TOTAL 118,948,669.000
WARRI ZONE REPORT RECEIVED
CATEGORY PMS QTY. GOV (LTRS)
NNPC/PPMC -
MAJOR MARKETERS
INDEPENDENT
MARKETERS 50,089,548.00
TOTAL 50,089,548.000
LAGOS ZONE REPORT RECEIVED
CATEGORY PMSQTY.GOV(LTRS)
NNPC/PPMC* 111,295,911.000
MAJOR
MARKETERS 48,109,350.000
INDEPENDENT
MARKETERS 273,322,032.000
total 432,727,293.000
(EXCLUDES EJIGBO DEPOT FIGURES WHICH ARE UNDER COLLATION)
PORT HARCOURT ZONE REPORT RECEIVED
CATEGORY PMSQTY.GOV(LTRS)
NNPC/PPMC 5,641,966.503
MAJOR
MARKETERS 18,102,123.000
INDEPENDENT
MARKETERS 23,744,089.503
TOTAL 47,488,179.006
OVERALL SUMMARY
CATEGORY PMS QTY. GOV (LTRS)
NNPC/PPMC 123,777,613.50
MAJOR
MARKETERS 66,211,473.00
INDEPENDENT
MARKETERS 459,264,602.50
TOTAL 649,253,689.006

NNPC to import over 1bn litres of petrol to checkmate hoarding, panic buying

The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have began fresh measures to halt what it described as artificially induced petrol scarcity noticeable in some parts of the country.

To this end, the corporation said it planned to import more than one billion litres of petrol in March to address short fall in supply

The  Group Managing Director (GMD), NNPC Dr Joseph Dawha, in conjunction with the Chief Executive Officers of the NNPC subsidiaries, began detailed monitoring of fuel stations in Abuja.

Dawha said the exercise was to checkmate hoarding and panic buying of petrol, particularly in Abuja, Lagos and its environs.

The GMD said there was enough petrol in the nation’s stock to take care of the need of motorists.

More details here...

Fuel Scarcity: One time too many- TUC

By Press Release
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) is shocked at the return of fuel scarcity and unbearable queues on our roads. This is one unpleasant development that has cut short the joy we had when the price of Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as fuel was reduced by the Federal Government in January, 2015.

It is bad enough that the masses are meant to go through these needless pains again but worst that instead of the leadership and stakeholders rising up and facing the challenge frontally they are busy casting aspersions and playing the blame game again.

The Congress finds it very difficult to describe things happening on the eve of the 2015 general elections. It has indeed become an onerous task to explain because instead of politicians addressing issues and how they intend to help the economy to do better they are busy dwelling on personalities.

Read the concluding part here...