Work begins on Badagry deep seaport in two months – Ambode

Construction work is to commence on what is to be West Africa’s largest deep seaport in Badagry, Lagos, in two months’ time.

Being incorporated in the project, which is being promoted by a consortium of private investors, is a free trade zone to further enhance commerce and promote export of goods from Nigeria.

The investors, BusinessDay gathered, are tidying up agreements with the federal and state governments as well as with host communities in what should facilitate smooth operations as work sets to begin on the site.

Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos governor, who was at the site on Thursday, told the host communities that their interests would be protected in the project.

Justin Okwuofu, the resettlement suprintendent of the project, told BusinessDay at the site, yesterday, that all was set, and that arrangements and discussions were ongoing for the relocation of about 12 communities to be affected by the project, which is claiming over 1,000 hectares of land from the ancient slave trade city of Badagry.

Indeed, the project site is about 500 metres away from the popular ‘Point of no Return,’ as known in the slave trade days.

The Badagry seaport will eventually bring to four the number of seaports in Lagos alone. There are two existiing ports – Apapa and Tin Can ports, while another is also being sited in the Lekki area of the state. Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial centre and hub of trade and commerce in West Africa, and the size of its economy put at about $45 billion is equivalent to that of Ghana.

With the seaport coming on stream, the state economy is bound to swell further.

The project holds immense potentials in job creation, revenue generation and growing the GDP of the state, Ambode told reporters, saying “this is the site for the biggest deep seaport in Africa. The land space for the port is over 1000 hectares of which we have just been told that there’s going to be a free trade zone and then a container terminal that we are going to have here.

“We know that the investors have done the best they can. We have Mearsk in the bouquet of investors who have signed on to this project, and what that means for us is that we are going to have the largest cargo container port in Africa, situated in Badagry.

“That means a lot to us in terms of employment. It means a lot for us also in terms of new settlement. Like it has been said, we hope that in the next two months we’re coming to start this project here.”

NSE Index reverses losses, gains 0.25%

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed on a positive note on Thursday, after 11 consecutive days of losses.

Specifically, the NSE ASI gained 77.48 basis points from 30,970.52 basis points to 31, 047.99 basis points.

The gains recorded by 20 stocks led by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated caused the market capitalisation of the listed equities on the NSE to rise by N51bn or 0.28 per cent to close at N10.628tn, up from N10.577tn.

The index of the 30 most capitalised stocks on the floor of the NSE was up by 0.37 per cent to close at 1,411.69 basis points, while the banking index rose by 0.02 per cent to close at 345.15 basis points.

Ecobank, which led Thursday’s gainers, appreciated by 8.16 per cent or N1.66 to close at N22.00 per share.

It was followed by Access Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc, which gained 4.79 per cent and 4.72 per cent to close at N5.03 and N2.44 per share, respectively.

Other top gainers include Oando Plc, Ikeja Hotel Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc, Skye Bank Plc and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc.

There were 29 losers led by Cement Company of North Nigeria Plc, which was down by 9.39 per cent or N1.08 to close at N10.42 per share.

Among the key losers were Trans-nationwide Express Plc, FCMB Group Plc, May & Baker Nigeria Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc.

In all, 222.219 million shares worth N2.838bn were traded in 3,696 deals on Thursday, compared to 423.151 million shares valued at N7.493bn in 3,961 deals the previous day.

Power Generation Hits New All-time High Of 4656mw – TCN

A new all time high in power generation has been recorded as the country attained 4,656 megawatts (mw) on Wednesday this week, breaking the recent all time high record of 4,545mw attained a few days ago, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

All generated power has been successfully wheeled by the national grid network, a press release by the TCN, signed yesterday by the general manager, Public Affairs, Seun Olagunju, informed, and noted that the new peak was attained at 10pm on Wednesday, July 15, 2015.

The TCN management, a few days ago announced the attainment of a 4,545mw-peak transmission in the national grid on Monday, July 13, 2015, with the previous record peak power transmission of 4,517mw attained on December 23, 2012.

“Power generation and transmission have been above 4,000mw following improvements in gas supply to the generating stations as well as equipment and infrastructure upgrade and enhanced human capacity of system operators,” the company said.

It further assured that it would continue to work at enhancing the capacity to transmit more quality power to the distribution companies.

Further Devaluation Of Naira; We’ll Not Bow To Pressure- CBN Vows

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that it would not bow to pressures to further devalue the local currency amid consistent slide of naira against the US Dollar at the exchange market.

The parallel market segment of the foreign exchange market traded one US dollar to N245 after it opened the day at N242/USD1.00. The exchange rate on Tuesday was N240 and N238 on Monday.

Dealers in the parallel markets expressed fears that at the on-going speed of slide the exchange rate might hit the N250/USD1.00 low by next week.

But reacting to the development, CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Ibrahim Muazu, said that there was no need for panic at the development, adding that it could be just a temporal reaction to the policy change.

While defending the recent foreign exchange measures taken by the apex bank to shore up the dwindling foreign reserves, Muazu said the apex bank would not be pressured into further devaluation of the local currency, which he said was the intent of some sections of the foreign communities.

He stated the parallel market cannot trigger any economic crisis since all major foreign exchange demands for eligible
imports go through the official exchange market which has not only remained stable but has been fully supplied by the apex bank so far.

Bureau de Change (BDC) operators said huge demand for foreign exchange began to inundate them as well as the black market as a result of the CBN’s shut off of 41 items from the official market three weeks ago.

Muazu said by CBN findings, the supply/demand gap being experienced in the parallel market was as a result of supply shortages in that segment following the plugging of loopholes from the official markets that had hitherto leaked into parallel market through round tripping.

He also said other economic crimes such as money laundering were major drivers of what is happening in the parallel market today.

President of BDC Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, had given reasons for the steady decline in value of Naira in the parallel market to include “over regulation of the bureau de change and financial markets, increased naira liquidity chasing fewer dollars, intensified hoarding and speculative activities, inability of banks to meet legible and legitimate demands and tightening policies of CBN.”

However, our correspondent’s interactions with some of the parallel market dealers, had indicated that most of them have been driven by speculations that the country was cash strapped in foreign currency, hence they are hiking the exchange rate on fears of long term real scarcity.

On the other hand, some speculators are taking positions against possible devaluation in the face of continued pressure on the apex bank from both within and outside the country.

At least ₦11.56 trillion Excess Crude Fund unaccounted for in 8 years

At least N11.55 trillion or $84.52 billion expected revenue into the coffers of Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account for the eight-year period from 2007 to 2014 are unaccounted for, according to findings by PREMIUM TIMES.

According to the news medium, these findings, during its investigation, are “ based on now available data from multiple government agencies not made public until now.”

The ECA accounting has remained perhaps one of the most opaque public fund mechanisms in the country, puzzling even state governors who repeatedly challenged former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for lack of transparency and accountability regarding the organization of the fund.

After a recent National Economic Council meeting in Abuja, a committee of state governors angrily lashed at Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, accusing her office, as supervisors of the fund, of arbitrariness and probably illegality in the management of a fund meant for the three tiers of government but which the ministry of finance apparently ran as a sole federal government fund.

PREMIUM TIMES arrived at its computation based on differentials between expected accruals and actual withdrawals from the ECA honey pot.
Based on their reporting, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] and the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] claim that for the eight years in review, no fewer than N23.79 trillion was deposited into the ECA fund.
In its own accounting, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee [FAAC] reported that for the same period, N10.58 trillion was withdrawn from the fund.

Although no where in the FAAC reporting was the N1.3 trillion ad-hoc domestic infrastructural investment and capital-intensive spending on the National Integrated Power Projects [NIPP] indicated, PREMIUM TIMES accommodated it in its analysis to arrive at the N11.55 trillion unaccounted ECA revenue.
Our estimate can even be said to be conservative given that we did not compute what could have accrued to the ECA from crude allocated to the NNPC for domestic refining, but which almost always ended up being sold abroad because of the bad shape of Nigeria’s four refineries.
It is instructive to note that for the first 41 months from January 2007 to May 2010, there was no single public record of transfers into the ECA by FAAC.

After the questionable 41-month silence on ECA reporting, the FAAC curiously resumed reporting in June 2010 till the end of the review period during which N7.16 trillion accrued to the national coffers.
It remains unknown if this unaccounted funds were stolen or mismanaged and if federal law enforcement authorities are currently reviewing the process.
The spokesperson for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Wilson Uwujaren, said he had no information about any ongoing investigation regarding the ECA.
But concerned by what appeared a lack of accountability in the management of the account, the National Economic Council [NEC] on June 29 raised a four-man committee to examine accruals into and withdrawals from the Federation Account and the Excess Crude Account from 2012 to May 2015.
Members of the committee are Governors Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, Ibrahim Dankwabo of Gombe and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna.
The panel’s report is still being awaited.
Repeated suggestions by the new Muhammadu Buhari’s administration that public funds were poorly and corruptly managed in the recent past appear to necessitate a deliberate, serious and careful look into the management of public funds by past administrations.
History of ECA
The ECA was created by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004 to act as a stabilization fund, closing budget deficits caused by oil price volatility.
The fund was designed to enable savings for the rainy day.
Since its birth however, the ECA has been bedeviled by controversy. One major challenge is the legal status of the body and the constitutional place of the Ministry of Finance in operating both the FAAC and the ECA. Another problem is the zero transparency exhibited by various agencies and officials of government charged with managing the funds over the years.
In recent years, the Ministry of Finance has refused to make public the detailed withdrawals from and accruals to the ECA, making it difficult to track budget spending and periodic status of the nation’s treasury.
The overarching constitutional provision demands a legislative buy-in and approval before any huge withdrawals are made from the FAAC. Likewise, the excess crude account and its administration recognize the three tiers of government as owners and decision makers regarding withdrawals from the account. The third means of checking the activities on ECA is the oversight performed by the National Economic Council (NEC).

All these have been consistently abused by the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Finance thus strapping Nigeria into penury, incessant contingency loans from International communities, and ultimately crippling the dividends that would have accrued to this stabilization mechanism.
In her bid to fend off criticism, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala made effort to give annual summaries of accruals and withdrawals from the Excess crude account for a period of 2011 to May 2015.
However, no clear highlights of monthly accruals and monthly disbursement of the funds to various quarters were provided to Nigerians.

Greater concerns about ECA
The discrepancies in reporting by the different agencies have been the most frustrating challenge on the ECA. Going by the NNPC report of actual oil production and monthly oil price within the period under review (2007- 2014), Nigeria is expected to have an inflow of ₦23.79 trillion ($166.87 billion).
In the same manner, the monthly FAAC reports by the Office of the Accountant General reported a total of ₦10.582 trillion ($73.93 billion) as withdrawals from the Excess crude account (ECA).
However, other reports indicate that the Federal and state governments agreed and made withdrawals of $8.425billion (₦1.308 trillion) as fund to implement National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) within the same period.
Cumulatively, total withdrawals of N11.89 trillion ($82.17 billion) was accounted for as withdrawals from ECA as FAAC distributions, funds for Sure P and NIPP.
Following this figures, the net expected balance in the ECA as at December 2014 should be ₦11.9 trillion ($84.52 billion).

However, the Ministry of Finance declared in May 2015 that the actual balance in the ECA as at December 2014 was $2,060,554,241 (₦344.85billion). If this figure is anything to go by, a difference of $82.46 billion (₦11.56 trillion) can be regarded as unaccounted amount expected to be in the Excess Crude Account.

FULL DETAILS OF UNREPORTED N11.56 TRILLION EXCESS CRUDE ACCRUALS
Annual Oil Production: Budgeted versus Actual Export
The annual benchmark values in barrels for crude oil production as indicated by appropriation laws during the period were 900million [2007], 882million [2008], 824.4million [2009] and 846 million [2010].
The benchmark estimate for the remaining years were: 828million barrels [2011], 892.8million [2012], 910.8million [2013] and 856.8million [2014].
However, the actual annual crude oil export as reported in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) monthly reports were 792million [2007], 724.5million [2008], 769million [2009] and 864.7million [2010].
The annual export for the remaining years were: 822million [2011], 830.8million [2012], 762milion [2013] and 796.7million [2014].
This is shown in the table below
Year Benchmark Oil Production (bbl) Actual Oil Production (bbl)
2007 900,000,000 791,826,519
2008 882,000,000 724,479,796
2009 824,400,000 769,195,205
2010 846,000,000 864,702,101
2011 828,000,000 822,082,224
2012 892,800,000 830,772,048
2013 910,800,000 762,045,201
2014 856,800,000 796,654,109
Total 6,940,800,000 6,361,757,203

See More figures here

Nigeria’s inflation rises on back of high food costs

Nigeria’s consumer inflation rose by 0.2 percentage points to 9.2 percent in June compared with the same month last year, its highest rate since February 2013 and above the central bank’s targeted upper limit.

The figure released on Thursday was in line with that forecast by a Reuters poll of analysts last week.

Food inflation edged higher to an annual 10.0 percent in June, up 0.2 percentage points from May, as disruptions to fuel distribution affected food prices.

“(The) irregularity of the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (gasoline) continues to impact food prices,” the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

It added that a delayed rainy season and resulting late harvest has also been putting upward pressure on prices.

Major cities in Africa’s biggest economy suffered acute fuel shortages in May arising from disputes over subsidy payments.

Worries that the new government elected in March would not honour previous subsidy debts prompted some importers to stop fuel imports and distribution. The shortages disrupted key services including telecommunications, banking and aviation.

The government last week agreed to pay the outstanding subsidy-related debt. Africa’s biggest oil producer relies almost wholly on imports for its 40 million litres a day petrol consumption owing to a neglected refining system.

The NBS in March said it expected inflation to inch up to around 9 percent this year, from its January forecast of 8.78 for 2015, following a currency devaluation meant to counter the impact of lower revenues from crude oil, Nigeria’s main

Softening of auction demand for FGN bonds, says FBN Capital

The Debt Management Office (DMO) holds its latest monthly auction of FGN bonds today, and seeks to raise N70bn ($350m).

The offer is divided between reopenings of the 15.54% Feb ‘20s (N40bn) and the 12.15% Jul ’34s (N30bn). The DMO has the same combination of debt instruments for each month in its issuance calendar for Q3 2015.

The total bid has averaged N150bn over the past year. The trend, however, has been downward, and demand declined in June to N131bn as a result of a delay in the FAAC distribution.

Liquidity levels in the market have been comfortable, and we would expect the DMO to hit its sales target for July. The PFAs are set to be core bidders at the auction.

The banks have been known to sell paper in the secondary market, and then bid at auction.

JP Morgan’s threat to remove Nigeria from its government bond indices hangs over the market. The authorities are unlikely to provide the necessary assurances since they would thereby diminish their influence in the market.

The net domestic borrowing requirement is set at N624bn in the 2015 budget. The onus falls upon the DMO, particularly as the CBN issuance calendar for Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) for Q3 shows a gap of N90bn between the planned rollover and maturing bills.

The DMO has raised N450bn (gross) from the sale of bonds in H1, and, even allowing for the front-loading of issuance, is likely to make a larger contribution to deficit financing than projected in the budget.

Stanbic IBTC records N68bn gross revenue in 2015 half year

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group, has announced its six months unaudited results for the period ended 30 June 2015, with gross earnings at N68.3 billion, an increase of 11 percent over the N61.7 billion recorded in the comparable period of last year.

The result, which was presented at the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos, show that profit before tax during the period stood at N9.5 billion, while profit after tax was N9.6 billion.

Total assets went up nine percent to N1.03 trillion from N944.5 billion in December 2014.
The Group maintained adequate capital to support its business in 1H 2015 which is well above the regulatory requirement.

The group’s total capital adequacy ratio closed the period at 15.3 percent (Bank 13.9 percent), while the tier 1 capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.6 percent (Bank 10.6 percent).
These ratios are well above the 10 percent minimum statutory requirement.

Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Sola David-Borha, stated that the group is seeking to raise N20.4 billion in rights issue to support its planned growth opportunities as well as business risks and contingencies.

Ban on frozen turkey, chicken sends prices up

The enforcement of the import ban on frozen turkey and chicken has sent the prices of the items up by more than 35% in Lagos major markets.
A survey by NAN at Mile 12 and Ijora markets showed that a carton of turkey now sells for N11,000 from N7,500, while chicken goes for N9,500 from N6,500. At Dopemu and Agege main markets, a kilo of the turkey goes for N1,150 from N750, while chicken sells for N1,050 from N650.

A visit to cold stores in Ayangburen, Sabo, Obale and Ejino markets in Ikorodu showed that only few of them had the items. At the Iyana Ipaja area of the state, only one cold store had the products in stock and it was sold at N1, 100 per kilo.

Federal government banned the importation of frozen chicken and turkey in 2003 but the ban was not enforced. On July 7, the Nigeria Customs Service flagged off a fresh enforcement of the ban. The new measures seem to have a bite following the soaring price of the items barely nine days after the fresh campaign by the customs.

Nigeria's Seven Energy secures $495 mln to boost gas supply

Oil and gas firm Seven Energy has secured a $495 million loan from a consortium of Nigerian and international lenders to help fund its spending to supply gas to the domestic market, an adviser on the deal said on Wednesday.

Seven Energy, an indigenous Nigerian company, plans to buy gas fields along with the related infrastructure and pipelines so it can sell gas into the domestic market for use in power generation and industrial consumption.

Demand for gas in Africa's biggest economy is expected to rise to 3 million standard cubic feet (scuf) per day by 2017 as gas-fired power plants ramp up generation, industry officials say. Gas demand has risen to 1.2 billion scuf per day four times the 300 million of six years ago.

Nigeria privatised its electricity sector 18 months ago in a bid to end decades of blackouts which have hampered economic growth. Most of the plants sold were gas-fired and operating below capacity due to inadequate gas supply.

Accugas Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven Energy, processes and distributes gas in Nigeria. It has already invested $1 billion in related projects in the southeast.

Seven Energy's senior secured term loan is provided by: First Bank, Ecobank, United Bank for Africa , Union Bank, FCMB, FBN Bank UK and Union Bank UK, the financial adviser said in a statement.

Last year, the oil and gas company secured $255 million from equity investors, including Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, to help build up its gas business.

Part of the new debt will also be used to refinance existing loans and fund working capital.

Rival firm Seplat, listed in Lagos and London , is aiming to have a 20 percent share of the domestic gas market by 2018. It plans to increase gross output from about 120 million scuf per day to 400 million by 2017.

Nigeria may have to devalue naira by over 15 percent, says Standard & Poor's

 

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday that Nigeria will have to devalue its currency at some stage, possibly by more than 15 percent, though it saw the adjustments as likely to be gradual.

Investors have seen a devaluation of the naira as long overdue for Africa's largest economy and biggest oil exporter, which has been battered by the recent tumble in crude prices.

Following devaluations in November and February, authorities have focused recently on curbing access to hard currency on the official interbank market for importers of some goods, introducing stringent restrictions three weeks ago.

Speaking with newsmen, Ravi Bhatia, director of sovereign ratings at Standard & Poor's, said that the measures just delay the inevitable.

"Another devaluation is inevitable... they will have no option but to devalue," said Bhatia.

Many investors are positioning for a devaluation of around 15 percent. Bhatia said that sounded "reasonable", though even more might be needed.

Non-deliverable forwards - derivatives used to hedge against future exchange rate moves - reflect expectations of currency weakening: six-month NDFs price the naira at 233 per dollar, some 18 percent weaker than the central bank pegged rate of 196.95 on Tuesday..

On Wednesday, the naira hit another record low of 242 against the dollar on the parallel market operated by dealers in bureaux de change, down 0.42 percent from Tuesday. The naira has been hitting record lows on the parallel market since the latest central bank measures introduced three weeks ago.

Shipowners look to Greece, Turkey, America to reclaim N648bn lost in lighterage operations

Nigerian shipowners, under the aegis of Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA), are in serious talks with shipowners in Greece, Turkey and America on ways to develop the capacity of indigenous shipowners and position them to fully benefit from the nation’s lighterage operations, largely dominated by foreign owned vessels.

The volume of Nigeria’s lighterage operations, which is the shipment of imported petroleum products from the mother vessels that are docked at offshore Lome or Cotonu using small tanker vessels into Nigerian ports, is estimated to stand at the volume of 1.8 billion litres per month.

Speaking with newsmen Tuesday in Lagos, on the steps taken by the new executives of NISA towards ensuring that its members are gainfully employed, Olaniyi Labinjo, president, NISA, who notes that Nigeria loses about N5.4 billion monthly (amounting to N648bn annually) to lighterage operations, said the economy will regain the lost if the members benefit from the planned deal and Nigerians were allowed to take over these jobs.

According to him, NISA has signed a memorandum of understanding with Greek shipowners, which will enable Nigerian shipowners to develop Nigeria’s cabotage trade and create jobs for Nigerians through vessel acquisition.

Nigerian shipowners, he pointed out, are also on the verge of perfecting its partnership deal with Americans to ensure shipowners get their businesses right.

NUPENG, PENGASSAN Threaten Strike Over Agip, Arco Face-off

The Port Harcourt zone of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have threatened to embark on an industrial action as a result of the prolonged face-off between the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and its contractor, Arco Petroleum (Nigeria) Plc.
Recall that Arco filed a suit before the Federal High Court, against Agip, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Conoco Philips Petroleum Nigeria Limited and the Nigeria Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), asking the court to determine whether it is not entitled, being a Nigerian company, to the exclusive right to be considered and granted such contract including any extension of its duration.

The firm is asking the court to determine whether in view of the provision of section 3 subsections (2) and (3) of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010, having demonstrated ownership of equipment, Nigerian personnel and capacity to execute the task of performing the contract for the maintenance service of rotating equipment at the Nigerian Agip Oil Company gas plants at OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale, it is entitled to the exclusive right to be considered and granted such contract including any extension of its duration.

The two unions, in a joint press statement issued in Port Harcourt, alleged that NAOC has ordered staff of Arco to vacate its facilities at OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale to pave way for a new contractor, Plantgeria, to take over the maintenance of the facilities.

Naira hits new low, now N241 for $1

The naira has hit a new low against the dollar on the black market. It now sell for N241 to a dollar on Monday, as importers banned from accessing hard currency at the official interbank market by the central bank three weeks ago scramble for hard currency in the unofficial market, a Nigerian currency trader said.

Low oil prices have further battered the currency and government finances.

Similarly, Nigerian stocks fell to a more than three-month low and the naira hit another record low on the parallel market on Monday, as central bank restrictions fed unofficial trade in dollars, traders said.

The local bourse, which has the second-biggest weighting after Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index, dropped for the ninth consecutive day as investors shed banking, consumer and oil shares.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s second biggest stock index closed down 0.32 percent on Monday, 11.5 percent lower than its 2015 peak, hit on April 2 having soared 12.2 percent in the two sessions after Muhammadu Buhari won a closely-fought presidential election.

The index of Nigeria’s top 10 consumer goods stocks declined 1.15 percent on Monday, weighing on the all-share index. The top decliners were Flour Mills , Honeywell Flour Mills and Union Bank , all down more than 4.9 percent each.

The central bank has said it would not be focusing on the thinly-traded parallel market when determining the exchange rate, adding that people preferred to use the unofficial market for undocumented transactions.