Business

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has raised the interest Monetary Policy Rate, MPR to 13 per cent. CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced this while briefing newsmen at the end of the MPR Committee’s meeting in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.11 per cent in the first quarter of 2022. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, this shows a sustained positive growth for six consecutive quarters since the recession witnessed in 2020. It noted that there had been a trend signaling a gradual economic stability since Q4 2020.

Nigeria lost N2.1 trillion as a result of crude oil production deferment in one year. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative disclosed that the loss was recorded in 2020. This comes on the heels of perpetual low crude oil production recorded by the country in the past two years.

The Federal Government has kicked against a new tax on phone calls in the nation to fund free healthcare for the Vulnerable Group in Nigeria. This is despite recent moves by telecommunication companies to increase the price of their services as a result of an unfavourable operating climate.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has dismissed reports that it intends to replace the naira notes in circulation with digital currency, the eNaira, in due course. A statement issued by the CBN Director, Corporate Communication, Osita Nwanisobi disclosed that that the reports were false. The statement called on the general public to disregard the reports.

Nigeria’s external reserve lost $246.25 million during the week, representing a 0.63% decline from $39.04 billion. The decline in the external reserve level can be attributed to the continuous intervention by the Central Bank in the FX market in order to ensure the stability of the local currency.

The Naira fell to N604/$ at the parallel market from N565 at the start of the year. Nigerian BDCs attributed the increase in dollar demand to the election season. Naira’s crash in the black market has widened the gap between the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window and the black market.

Investors have lost N204 billion in three consecutive trading sessions. The market had been outperforming other peers in recent weeks owing to price appreciation in some stocks as well as impressive full year and first quarter 2022 earnings from companies listed on the bourse. Having lost 0.29 and 0.35 per cent market sentiment was further dampened as the index dropped 0.07 per cent to close at 52,721.34 points.

The Nigeria Exchange Limited closed on a negative note amidst sell-offs and buy-interests. The All-Share Index closed at 52,944.09 points to reflect a decline of 0.29% from the previous trading day and a Year-to- return of 23.94%. Meanwhile, the market capitalization grew by N83.22 billion.