CBN Confirms Licences Of 2,699 BDCs

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that 2,699 Bureau De Change (BDCs) operators complied with the new requirements for operations in the country by December 31, 2015.

The apex bank at the weekend published on its website a list entitled, “Confirmed BDCs in compliance with the new requirements for the operations of BDCs in Nigeria as at December 31, 2015.”

The CBN had in September published a list of 2,765 licensed BDCs, which it said had complied with its new N35 million capitalisation requirements and another N35 million cautionary deposit for operators.

There were 3,208 registered BDCs in the country before the expiration of the deadline on July 31 2014 for operators to recapitalise.

The regulator said it introduced the new requirements in a bid to correct observed deficiencies in the operations of BDCs in Nigeria which, it noted, had led to gross inefficiency and sharp practices in the foreign exchange market, rent-seeking, depletion of the external reserves, financing of unauthorised transactions and dollarisation, among others.

CBN also reviewed the mandatory cautionary deposit for BDCs to N35 million, adding that the fee shall be deposited in a non-interest yielding account in the CBN upon the granting of approval-in-principle.

In addition, while the application fee was raised to N100,000, the licensing fee to N1 million, the annual renewal fee for the forex dealers was also increased to N250,000.

DPR warns filling stations against selling above N86.50

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, has warned that any filling station found to be selling Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as fuel above the official pump price of N86.50 will be made to give out the product to motorists for free.

Issuing this warning in Lagos, the agency’s Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Dorothy Bassey said, “We have put effective monitoring teams in place that will go out to monitor the level of compliance with the new pump price.

“We will ensure that any station caught selling above the pump prices will have its product dispensed to customers for free.

“You know that there is holiday today, monitoring is going round, but we are going to commence on rigorous monitoring when we resume on Monday. People just refused to change to what will be beneficial to all, but we were assured that it will not be the same story next week.”

It was learnt that some marketers have partially compiled with the Federal Government’s announcement of new pump price.

Reacting to the warning, Chinedu Okoronkwo, National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, said marketers were selling their old stock, adding that market forces would compel everybody to comply.

IMF Chief Arrives Nigeria To Holds Talk With President Buhari Over Economic Crisis, Tuesday

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, elected on a pledge to tackle corruption, holds talks with the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday as the country seeks to spend its way out of an economic crisis fuelled by plunging oil prices.

The Fund said on Monday its managing director Christine Lagarde would meet Buhari and his Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun.

“I look forward to productive meetings … as they address important economic challenges, most importantly the impact of low oil prices,” said Lagarde in a statement.

The statement gave no other details, but the meeting suggests an acknowledgement of Buhari’s efforts to revive Africa’s largest economy.

He was elected in March after a campaign in which he promised to clamp down on the endemic corruption that has left many Nigerians mired in poverty despite the country’s enormous energy wealth.

He then announced a record budget for 2016, forecasting a doubling of the deficit to 2.2 trillion naira ($11 billion) and a tripling of capital expenditure intended to help the country adjust to the downturn in oil, which has lost around two-thirds of its value since mid-2014.

It has foreign currency reserves worth around $30 billion, and plans to borrow as much as 900 billion naira abroad to fund the deficit, which is equivalent to 2.16 percent of gross domestic product, Buhari said. Some 984 billion naira would be borrowed at home.

Nigeria relies on crude exports for more than half of state revenues and is Africa’s top oil producer.

It is also facing an insurgency by Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed thousands and displaced more than two million people in the remote northeast and raised concern among potential investors.

Lagarde who arrive Abuja Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Monday. , s due to give a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday and will also meet business leaders during her visit.

Lagarde will also visit neighbouring Cameroon, where she will meet President Paul Biya and his economic team.

The government of the central African country that exports coffee, cocoa and oil tabled a 2016 budget of 4,200 billion CFA francs ($6.9 billion) in December.

Naira Down Again, Now N265 Against Dollar

The naira on Monday depreciated by 0.8 per cent to exchange at N265 to the dollar at the parallel market.

NAN reports that the greenback lost N2 to the dollar from its weekend value of N263.

However, at the official interbank window, the naira exchanged at N197 to the dollar.

Traders at the market were hopeful that the naira would rebound in 2016 if the apex bank continued to enforce its policies at the foreign exchange market.

Besides, the price of crude oil at the international market hedged up to 38.9 dollars per barrel from about 35.7 dollars per barrel at the weekend.

Oil prices rose on Monday after a breakdown in diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran that some speculated could result in supply restrictions.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday in response to the storming of its embassy in Tehran following Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric on Saturday.