The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cbn

Sarah Alade retires as Deputy Governor from CBN

After serving for 23 years at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 10 of which as Deputy Governor Economic Policy and one time Acting governor of the apex bank, Dr Mrs Sarah Alade bade an emotional farewell to the bank on Tuesday.

Speaking at the send-off dinner organized by the members of the Economic Policy Directorate of the CBN, governor of bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele described Alade’s departure as “not very happy” for him because Sarah Alade was not just a friend but a colleague and a moderating force who pulled him back from losing his cool during tense moments at the bank.

Emefiele described Alade’s 23 years at the bank as excellent and a good representative of ladies at the CBN, noting that it will be difficult to fill the vacuum her departure will create.

The CBN governor commended Alade for bowing out when the ovation was loudest and thanked her for contribution to learning in the apex bank and outside. The bank he said will continue to pray for her in her private capacity and will also seek her expertise from time to time to guide them.

Dr. Sarah Omotunde Alade was appointed Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on 20th February, 2014. Prior to this time, she had served as Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Central Bank of Nigeria from 26th March, 2007.

Dr. Sarah Alade commenced her working career in 1977 at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ilorin, Kwara State. In 1991, she joined the University of Ilorin as a Lecturer in the Department of Accounting and Finance. She joined the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1993 as an Assistant Director in the Research Department where she served as Head, State Government Finance Office (1993-1996), Head, Federal Government Finance Office (1996-2000) and Head, Fiscal Analysis Division (2000-2004).

Dr. Alade has served on the teams on major economic policy studies, and has been involved in the preparation of Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary and Credit Policy Proposals over the years. She was actively involved in the drafting of the Medium Term Economic Programme (MTP) for Nigeria and the IMF staff Monitored Programme/Standby Arrangement.

Dr. Alade was appointed Director, Banking Operations Department in May 2004. In that capacity, she served as Chairman Board of Directors, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) as well as Secretary, National Payments System Committee (NPSC).

Dr. Alade was a member of the Technical committee of the Vision 2010 and currently a member of the Technical Committee of Vision 2020 and member of the National Economic Management Team (EMT).

As Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr. Mrs. Alade superintended over the Economic Policy Directorate, comprising the Research, Monetary Policy, Trade and Exchange, Statistics Departments and Financial Markets Department. As Chair of the Monetary Policy Implementation Committee (MPIC), she interfaces with operational departments and coordinates technical inputs for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Dr. Alade, who is a member of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), has several publications to her credit and is currently carrying out research into Interest Rate Policy and Monetary Policy Implementation in Nigeria. Dr. Mrs. Alade is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Operational Research (NIOR), Association of National Accountant of Nigeria.

In February 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Alade as Acting Governor of the CBN to oversee the affairs of the bank from February to June 2014.She is the chairman of the board of directors of the Financial Market Dealers Quotation-Over the Counter (FMDQ-OTC), the African Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM). Sarah Alade has several publications to her credit.

March 22, 2017
CBN to unite rates, says Emefiele

Critics of official intervention in the forex market got a reply yesterday.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said its intervention is to bring about a convergence of all the rates.
Many have doubted the CBN’s ability to sustain its intervention, but the CBN insisted that it has the muscle to sustain its battle to stop the Naira from falling out of control.
Addressing reporters at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele warned doubting Thomases that “they are taking a risk and they will lose in this bid to want to place the wrong bet on the direction we are going”. “The direction is that there is determination to see the convergence of those rates and with what we have seen so far we are very optimistic that those rates will converge and all the elements in the foreign exchange market will no doubt be implemented.”
Emefiele noted that “in terms of sustainability, reserves at this time are still trending upwards, almost close to $31 billion as I speak with you, and the fact that we have done this consistently for four to five weeks should convince everybody who doubts the strength of CBN to sustain this policy.”
He went on: “It is a programme that is on course. We are happy that it is looking good beyond our expectations and those who still remain on the sidelines, doubting the CBN’s ability to sustain this policy, they are on the wrong side of the bet.”
Speaking on why the apex bank initiated the intervention, Emefiele said the CBN made a presentation on the Nigerian economy and FX to the National Economic Council (NEC) which thereafter advised that “we look into all the issues discussed.” “Before then, we had started to see the rising trend in the FX, particularly in the parallel market and we had taken a decision that there was a need to reverse the trend that is the reason we specifically started the FX intervention and I am happy it is indeed very gratifying that those interventions have proved positive, we’ve seen rates converging; we are strongly optimistic that the rates will converge.”
On the movement of rate from N305 to N307, Emefiele said the movement “has nothing to do with any adjustment; the market is not one to be fixed; the market will move sometimes based on trends. It is not meant to be a fixed market; it is sort of a floating market that floats within a particular range. It is not an attempt to further weaken the Naira.”
Emefiele said members of the MPC considered the headwinds in the domestic economy and the global environment. They decided by nine out of 10 members to retain the MPR at 14.0 per cent alongside all other policy parameters. One member voted to raise the MPR.
The MPC decided to: retain the MPR at 14 per cent; retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent; retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent; and retain the Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.
Before arriving at the decision, the Committee, the CBN governor said, evaluated the challenges confronting the domestic economy and the opportunities for achieving price stability and conducive to growth in 2017.
In particular, the Committee, he said, “noted the persisting inflationary pressures; continuing output contraction; high unemployment rate; elevated demand pressure in the foreign exchange market; low credit to the real sector and weakening financial system indicators, amongst others.”
Members, he added welcomed the improved implementation of the foreign exchange policy that resulted in the naira’s appreciation. Similarly, “the Committee expressed satisfaction on the release of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, and urged its speedy implementation with clear timelines and deliverables and, on the strength of these developments, the Committee felt inclined to maintain a hold on all policy parameters.”
According to Emefiele, “the Committee noted the arguments for tightening policy, which remained strong and persuasive. These include: the real policy rate, which remains negative, upper reference band for inflation remains substantially breached and elevated demand pressure in the foreign exchange market. The reality of sustained pressures on prices (consumer prices and the naira exchange rate) cannot be ignored, given the Bank’s primary mandate of price stability”.
The MPC noted that the moderation in inflation in February was due to “base effect as other parameters, particularly month-on-month CPI, continued to rise. However, tightening at this time would portray the Bank as being insensitive to growth. Also, the deposit money banks may easily reprice their assets which would undermine financial stability. Besides, the Committee noted the need to create binding restrictions on growth in narrow money and structural liquidity and the imperative of macroeconomic stability to achieving price stability conducive to growth”.
Emefiele said “the Committee also considered the arguments for loosening the stance of monetary policy, noting its desirability in stimulating aggregate demand if credit increased with lower rates of interest”.
The CBN governor pointed out that members of the committee considered “the arguments that loose monetary policy was capable of delivering cheaper credit, making it more attractive for Nigerians to acquire assets, thus increasing wealth and stimulating aggregate spending and confidence by economic agents, which would eventually lead to lower non-performing loans in the system. However, the counterfactual arguments against loosening was anchored on the upward trending month-on-month inflation and its impact on the exchange rate. Loosening would thus worsen the already negative real interest rate, widen the interest rate spread and reverse the positive outlook for the current account position.”
On outlook for financial stability, the Committee, Emefiele said, “noted that the banking sector was becoming less resilient as a result of the adverse macroeconomic environment. Nevertheless, the MPC reiterated its resolve to continue to pursue financial system stability. To this end, the Committee enjoined the Management of the Bank to work with DMBs to promptly address rising NPLs, declining asset quality, credit concentration and high foreign exchange exposures.”

March 22, 2017
Naira continues to appreciate against dollar

The Naira has continued to appreciate against the dollar at the parallel market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The Nigerian currency on Tuesday afternoon traded at N420 (buying rate) and N430 (selling rate), while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N530 and N450 respectively.

Trading on the floor of the Bureau De Change (BDC) showed that the Naira closed at N400 to a dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N545 and N480 respectively.

The Naira remained stable at the interbank market, exchanging at N307.50 to a dollar.

Traders at the market said that they were happy with the performance of the Naira at the market, adding that it would lead to the fall in the prices of goods and services nationwide.

Meanwhile, Mr Emefiele Godwin, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that the bank was optimistic to see the further convergence of the official and parallel market rates.

Emefiele said this, while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the two- day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the CBN in Abuja.

“We are determined to see a greater convergence of the official and parallel market rates,’’ Emefiele said.

NAN reports that the CBN retained the lending rate at 14 per cent and other monetary policy parameters.

The CBN has recorded huge success at the FOREX market since it started injecting over 1.5 billion dollars at the interbank market.

The Naira has continued to firm against the dollar in defiance of predictions by some experts that it would sink to N1,000 to a dollar by the second quota of the year. (NAN)

March 21, 2017
Senate summons Emefiele over intervention fund

The Senate on Tuesday invited the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it to brief the lawmakers on the progress so far made in the implementation of government’s intervention fund geared towards getting the country out of economic recession.

The upper chamber has asked the CBN to consider implementing expeditiously, the approvals and disbursements of intervention facilities to companies in the real sector that merit such facilities.

The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (Abia North), entitled, “The need for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement its Intervention Funding Programmes to qualified Nigerian companies and exporters.”

Senator Ohuabunwa noted that the Federal Government was aware that Nigeria was undergoing a serious economic recession, with companies, factories, industries, exporters and entrepreneurs no longer growing or going moribund, with the attendant loss of jobs and decided to set up the intervention fund programme to revitalize the industries.

He said, “To achieve the target, government resolved to activate the Nigerian economy through the introduction of different types of long tenured intervention facilities with the aim of stimulating output production, enhancing value addition and creating employment for Nigerians. These are initiatives that many Nigerian companies and commercial banks have keyed into with great expectations.”

March 21, 2017
FOREX: CBN releases another $180m

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has offered additional 180 million dollars to meet bids for
wholesale auction and requests for
invisibles such as medicals, school fees
and personal travel allowances valued
at 80 million dollars through the inter-
bank window.
In a statement, on Monday in Abuja,
the CBN’s acting Director, Corporate
Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor,
said the wholesale requests will be
settled on Tuesday, March 21, 2017.
He said that with the development, it is
expected that the Naira would further
strengthen in the foreign exchange
market in the days to come.
He reiterated that the CBN would
ensure sustainable forex liquidity and
transparency in the process to enable as
many customers as possible get access
to the foreign exchange they genuinely
demand.
He advised eligible individuals with
genuine foreign currency needs to
freely approach their banks and
authorised dealers with their request,
stressing that the CBN has made
adequate provisions of foreign currency
for all such legitimate purposes.
Okorafor further advised legitimate
customers to approach the CBN with
their complaints should they be unfairly
denied access.
Tte Bank had since February 2017
offered over S1.5 billion to the
interbank market, with the aim of
bringing stability to the foreign
exchange market and providing easy
access of businesses and individuals
to foreign currencies.
Meanwhile the Naira has continued to
firm up against the Dollar at the
parallel market. The Naira today traded
at N445 to a dollar
The Naira has also continued to
appreciate against the Pound Sterling,
trading at N530 and N465, to one Euro.
At the Bureau De Change (BDC)
window, the Naira traded for N399 to a
dollar, while a Pound Sterling and Euro
changes for N580 and N525,
respectively.
The Nigerian currency also closed at
N307.5 at the interbank market.(

March 20, 2017
Naira to appreciate further as CBN boosts forex sale

The Naira is set to appreciate further this week as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to inject more Foreign Exchange (Forex) into the market to meet the requests of genuine customers.

CBN spokesman Isaac Okorafor, gave the assurance yesterday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the apex bank had so far kept to its promise of continuing to supply enough forex to guarantee liquidity in the market.

Okorafor said the bank was committed to ensuring that authorised dealers got sufficient supply to meet the demands of authentic customers of banks.

He adde that the bank had since February offered over one billion dollars to the interbank market, and expressed optimism that stability had been restored to the forex market.

He said individuals could easily access forex to address personal and business allowances.

A summary of the CBN intervention in the interbank market over the past two months showed that the highest bid rate was N360 per dollars, while the lowest was N315 per dollar.

March 20, 2017
CBN’s cashless CardExpo Africa to focus on youth, innovation

Young, creative people will enjoy a special focus in this year’s Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Cashless CardExpo Africa, the organisers, Intermarc Consulting, have said.
Managing Director, Adeyinka Adeyemi, said understanding the lifestyles of youths or millennials with regard to cashless cash payment and enterprise will help firms redefine their businesses and stay relevant.
The show, the 17th edition, holds in Lagos from June 13 to 15 and it has the theme: “Millennials in the marketplace: lifestyles riding on disruptive payment.”
Adeyemi said it will “aggregate the energies of this era and capture the waves of technology and lifestyles. It will also present an encompassing worldview for the emerging approaches to payment and enterprise.”
The influence of millennials, he added, “is a global phenomenon. They disrupt everything from how we work, to how we buy groceries; this demographic group is even now redefining how we do business. Thus, figuring them out has all the elements of a gold rush in the making.
“This will prove crucial in the next several years, as young professionals represent both the future of enterprise and commerce in Africa.”
Adeyemi said during the show, “trailblazers’ and culture influencers”, whose lifestyle and choices are emulated by their peers, “will be
“This will prove crucial in the next several years, as young professionals represent both the future of enterprise and commerce in Africa.
“Banks and other service providers, who hope to leverage the millennial dividend, should therefore be on the lookout for optimum strategies not only to connect with this monumental force, but also to influence their action for commercial interest to businesses.”
He added that CardExpo 2017, through its “Start-Up Challenge” will give opportunity to millennials with financial technology ideas to pitch their solutions and stand a chance of being incubated at a national hub.
“Others include the data fiesta an initiative promoting global connectivity and access to the internet and the IGR Forum all of whose sponsors will be announced in due course.”

March 20, 2017
CBN’s cashless CardExpo Africa to focus on youth, innovation

Young, creative people will enjoy a special focus in this year’s Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Cashless CardExpo Africa, the organisers, Intermarc Consulting, have said.

Managing Director, Adeyinka Adeyemi, said understanding the lifestyles of youths or millennials with regard to cashless cash payment and enterprise will help firms redefine their businesses and stay relevant.

The show, the 17th edition, holds in Lagos from June 13 to 15 and it has the theme: “Millennials in the marketplace: lifestyles riding on disruptive payment.”

Adeyemi said it will “aggregate the energies of this era and capture the waves of technology and lifestyles. It will also present an encompassing worldview for the emerging approaches to payment and enterprise.”

The influence of millennials, he added, “is a global phenomenon. They disrupt everything from how we work, to how we buy groceries; this demographic group is even now redefining how we do business. Thus, figuring them out has all the elements of a gold rush in the making.

“This will prove crucial in the next several years, as young professionals represent both the future of enterprise and commerce in Africa.”

Adeyemi said during the show, “trailblazers’ and culture influencers”, whose lifestyle and choices are emulated by their peers, “will be

“This will prove crucial in the next several years, as young professionals represent both the future of enterprise and commerce in Africa.

“Banks and other service providers, who hope to leverage the millennial dividend, should therefore be on the lookout for optimum strategies not only to connect with this monumental force, but also to influence their action for commercial interest to businesses.”

He added that CardExpo 2017, through its “Start-Up Challenge” will give opportunity to millennials with financial technology ideas to pitch their solutions and stand a chance of being incubated at a national hub.

“Others include the data fiesta an initiative promoting global connectivity and access to the internet and the IGR Forum all of whose sponsors will be announced in due course.”

March 20, 2017
Naira to appreciate further as CBN boosts forex sale

The Naira is set to appreciate further in the week as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to inject more Foreign Exchange (Forex) into the market to meet the requests of genuine customers.

The spokesman of CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, gave the assurance in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the apex bank had so far kept to its promise of continuing to supply enough forex to guarantee liquidity in the market.

The statement said the bank was committed to ensuring that authorised dealers got sufficient supply to meet the demands of authentic customers of banks.

It disclosed that the bank had since February offered over one billion dollars to the interbank market.

The bank expressed optimism that stability had been restored to the forex market.

According to the statement, individuals can easily access forex to address personal and business allowances.

NAN reports that a summary of the CBN intervention in the interbank market over the past two months, shows the highest bid rate was N360 per dollars, while the lowest was N315 per dollar. (NAN)

March 19, 2017
CBN to keep rate unchanged as MPC meets tomorrow

•Dollar to weaken over $1b inflow into interbank

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)- led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will tomorrow and next, be having its second meeting for the year to review major global and domestic economic developments since its last meeting.
The projection is that the MPC will retain the benchmark interest rate- Monetary Policy Rate at 14 per cent, Cash Reserve Ratio at 22.5 per cent and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent.
The meeting will be coming on the back of a continuous decline in the nation’s domestic output, inflationary pressures, weak earning scorecards and forex market challenges, though some improvements seem to have been recorded in fiscal policy and foreign exchange administration.
Also, dollar is likely to weaken this week against the naira as the impact of CBN’s $1 billion injection into the interbank market begins to reflect on rates, the apex bank said yesterday.
The CBN continued its liquidity injection drive last week as it continued Special Wholesale Intervention Forward Sales for maturing Letters of Credit (LCs). Similarly, Deposit Money Banks continued to sell Personal & Business Travel Allowances as well as Tuition and Medical fees.
As a result, exchange rate at the parallel market firmed up slightly. Naira/Dollar exchange rate opened the week at N460.00/$1.00 but appreciated to N455.00/$1.00 by Thursday, before closing the week at N450.00/$1.00.
However, the naira marginally weakened against the Dollar at the interbank market during the week as Naira/Dollar exchange rate fell from N306.00/$1.00 on Monday to N306.75/$1.00 by Thursday before appreciating slightly to N306.50/$1.00. The CBN’s intervention in the interbank market over the past two months shows the highest bid rate was N360/$1, while the lowest was N315/$1.
The foreign exchange market has also recently witnessed increased liquidity on the back of a rise in Foreign Reserves to $30.3 billion as at March 16, 2017 due to a combination of deliberate effort by the CBN to shore-up the reserves and the improvement in global oil prices.
Crude oil price is at $50.05/barrel even as gains from improved domestic oil output, which has seen production improved to 2.1mb/d has continued to impact positively on the reserves.
CBN’s Spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, assured that the regulator was committed to ensuring that the authorised dealers got sufficient supply to meet the demands of genuine customers of banks.
He said the CBN had since February 2017 offered over $1 billion to the interbank market he expressed optimism that stability had been restored to the market, with individuals now being able to easily access forex to address personal and business allowances.
Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa Plc, Ike Chioke said the CBN’s new forex directives to banks, to provide Personal Travel Allowances and Business Travel Allowances within 24 hours and medical and School Fees within 48 hours to meet demand, has also eased some of the pressures in the parallel market with exchange rate appreciating 14.3 per cent since announcement.
“Whilst we believe the successful implementation of the new forex directive has eased pressure in the parallel market, flexibility in pricing and allocation of forex at the interbank market remains a sine qua non to restore confidence in the system and reinstall a market framework that would lead to a gradual normalisation of rates and also attract the much needed foreign capital into the economy,” he said in an emailed report.
“As the Committee sits to deliberate on Monday and Tuesday, we are of the view that the MPC will maintain status quo on all rates whilst reiterating the need for the CBN to focus on improving forex liquidity in the Foreign Exchange market especially as hinted by the new economic recovery document,” he stated.
Other analysts said a rate cut could dampen CBN’s efforts in squeezing excess liquidity from the system which could hamper the stability of the Foreign Exchange market. On the flipside, a hike in rate may also be sub-optimal at this time as this may further squeeze out liquidity from the banking system as banks may deploy funds towards investment securities while also constraining growth potentials, thus worsening the economic conditions.
The implication on the markets, should the MPC maintain status quo, is expected to be neutral given that most foreign investors are staying on the side-line at the moment against the backdrop of an inefficient foreign exchange market.

“Currently, the equities market remains quiet and driven only by short term speculative trading and fundamentally attractive earnings release. In the fixed income market, we expect investor appetite to remain tilted towards shorter term government securities given the high yield offering which tends to off-set current inflation risk and also inflation expectation,” they said.

March 19, 2017