The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cbn

  • Senate screens Buhari’s nominees for CBN, MPC

    THE Senate yesterday screened President Muhammadu Buhari’s two nominees for the position of Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The nominees are Mrs. Aisha Ahmad and Mr. Edward Adamu.

    Similarly, four other nominees were also screened as members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). They are Prof. Festus Adeola Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh Maidugu.

    The nominees took turns to face the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions as its members threw a barrage of questions at them.

    The Senate had put on hold the screening of the nominees and others appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari for several weeks, owing to disagreement between the two arms of government.

    Mrs. Ahmad, who was accompanied to the venue of the screening by her husband and her father, was the first to be screened. In response to questions, the nominee stressed the need for the country to have a stable foreign exchange policy to stabilise the economy.

    Mrs. Ahmad advocated non-oil exports-boosting policies, saying they were crucial in diversifying nation’s sources of foreign exchange.

    “One of the key challenges that we are facing is over-reliance on oil and our sensitivity to changes in the price and availability of oil.

    “The real action we need to take concerning diversifying the economy is to diversify the sources of foreign exchange.

    “It is a simple demand and supply situation; if you have a high demand for your good and supply is not there, there is a problem.

    “Over the last 18 months we have seen a steady stabilisation of our rates.

    “What the importer and exporter window has done for us is to provide some assurance, some liquidity and some transparency in that market in terms of price.

    “The stability we have seen has also encouraged some foreign investors to come and invest.

    “While working on structural issues that are more long-term in diversifying our sources of foreign exchange, coming up with policies that stimulate domestic production and encourage exporters, we ensure we are converging on the rates.

    “So, the difference between the official rates and the rates you have in some of the other channels are to be converged,” she added.

    On his part, Edward Adamu, who is widely acknowledged to have been appointed on merit based on his track record at the apex bank, was not subjected to the grill. Members of the Senate committee were unanimous in giving him a smooth passage.

    Alleged moves by some Presidency cabal to replace Adamu with a preferred candidate were vehemently resisted by his colleagues at the CBN, who vowed to frustrate such manipulation.

    At the beginning of the exercise, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, pleaded with the lawmakers to also screen other nominees of the President, whose nomination are still pending.

    Chairman of the Senate Committee Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, however, said the Senate leadership decided to yield ground owing to the strategic and sensitive nature of the nominees’ appointments.

  • CBN sustains foreign exchange market liquidity with $210m

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday injected 210 million dollars into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market, in its bid to sustain liquidity in the foreign exchange market.

    The Acting Director,  Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr Isaac Okoroafor in a statement said that the move would ensure the continuous availability of foreign exchange to customers.

    Giving a breakdown, Okoroafor said that the bank offered 100 million dollars to authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises segment received 55 million dollars.

    He said also that customers requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated 55 million dollars.

    Okoroafor reassured the public that the bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market in line with its desire to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.

    He also said that the steps taken so far by the apex bank in the management of foreign exchange was paying off, as reflected by reduction in the country’s import bills and accretion to its foreign reserves.

    It will be recalled that the CBN had recently injected 210 million dollars into the Wholesale segment of the foreign exchange market.

    Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the foreign exchange market, exchanging at an average of N360 to a dollar in the Bureau de Change segment of the market. (NAN)

  • CBN sets rules for accessing N500b export stimulation cash

    •Apex bank pegs maximum loan access at N5b

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has started the implementation of the Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF) that will enable non-oil exporters access N500 billion facility.

    The fund is meant to engender growth in the non-oil sector and foreign reserves accretion, but each borrower is not allowed to access above N5 billion loan.

    CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Hassan Mahmud, who announced the policy shift in a circular to banks, said the NESF was introduced by the apex bank to diversify the revenue base of the economy, and to boost the non-oil sector growth.

    He said the scheme will help redress the declining export-financing and reposition the sector to increase its contribution to development.

    He said firms accessing the NESF must be registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, have verifiable export off-take contracts and satisfactory credit report from at least two credit bureaux firms.

    He said eligible transactions that shall qualify under the NESF scheme include export of goods processed or manufactured in Nigeria, export of goods and services allowed under the laws of Nigeria, and other structured trade finance arrangements.

    He listed banks and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs)  financial institutions eligible to participate in the scheme.

    Term loans shall not exceed 70 per cent of verifiable total cost of the project subject to a maximum of N5 billion at 10-year tenor, which shall not exceed last December 31. The facility shall be granted at all-inclusive interest rate of nine per-cent per annum while repayment of the principal and interest shall be quarterly and in accordance with the agreed repayment schedule.

    Also, interest charges at the time of implementation or construction phase will be dependent on the status and transactional structure of the projects.

    The CBN statement said: “The Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF) has been introduced to engender growth in the non-oil sector of the economy and foreign reserve accretion. The facility will help redress the declining export financing and reposition the sector to increase its contribution to economic development.

    “We hereby inform all participating financial institutions that implementation of the NESF has commenced. The following shall be eligible to participate under the facility: Deposit Money banks and development Finance Institutions (DFI).

    “The loan facility will have a tenor of up to 10 years, not exceeding the 31st December, 2027; while, the principal and the seven per cent annual interest will be repaid quarterly and in accordance with the repayment schedule.”

  • CBN raises hope of MPC meeting

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has raised the hope of a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) by the end of the month.

    His optimism is based on the decision of the Senate to confirm deputy governors-designate and MPC members-nominees next week.

    The all-important MPC, which moderates the monetary policy of the economy, has not met since November, last year.

    Its scheduled meeting could not hold last month, raising fears on the management of the economy.

    Even the World Bank raised the alarm that the senate’s failure to confirm the members to enable the MPC return to its full activities was unheathy for the economy.

    Speaking after an inspection of the Sunti Sugar factory owned by the Flour Mills of Nigeria and part-funded by the CBN, Emefiele said he was “delighted that the Senate has decided to screen the nominees earlier sent to them by Mr. President. We will have a few days delay. MPC was supposed to hold on the 19th or 20th of March.

    “What I suspect is that we will be holding our committee of governors meeting and we will decide. And I believe we will just have between seven to 10 days delay and the MPC will hold.”

    He said “with the success of this sugar factory, nothing is impossible and no hurdle is insurmountable that we could see this happen in Nigeria. Nigeria is a country endowed with a lot of resources, it’s endowed with youth and intelligent people, good soil; I believe we can do it. I want to repeat the promise I have made, if any company is interested in any agricultural, agro allied and agro -processing industry, we are ready to support them.”

    He said “it is not just about the factory alone but they have about 17,000 hectares of land which they are cultivating sugar cane on. They have so far cultivated about 3,000 hectares. The standard practice is that if you own a sugar mill, you should produce for six months in a year. But for the output they have now, they will be producing for just one month instead of six. So what we are trying to do is that through our Anchor Borrowers Programme we empower small holder farmers who can grow sugar cane plantation which will serve as additional stock for the sugar mill.”

    Also yesterday, the CBN and Deposit Money Banks and other stakeholders in the financial sector, agreed on ways to bring in additional 7.6 million Nigerians into the banking sector in 2018.

    CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability Dr Okwu Nnanna, speaking at the Financial Inclusion State Steering Committee (FISSCO) Regional Capacity Building Programme in Abuja said all stakeholders were important in achieving the set target.

  • CBN boosts rice farming with N4b cash, input

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday in Katsina, Katsina State,  disbursed over N4billion and farming inputs including fertilizer, Urea, water pumping machines, rice seeds and pesticides to rice farmers in the sttate, under the bank’s  ‘Anchor Borrower Scheme’’

    Addressing the rice farmers on the occasion, the bank’s Head of Development and Operations, Katsina branch, Alhaji Abubakar Ahmed, said the scheme was designed to boost the nation’s economy, reduce import of agricultural products as well as checkmate the flow of economic resources to other countries through imports

    The CBN official said over 4000 rice farmers in the state are benefitting from the programme, adding that beneficiaries were selected through the association to ensure prompt repayment of loans

    On the challenges faced by the scheme especially during dry season farming, he said these include lack of sufficient water, incessant attacks by diseases and insufficient farming inputs

    He further maintained that the bank is currently engaging relevant stakeholders and partners to ensure adequate sensitisation and orientation of the farmers on the use and application of the tools given to them

    The Chairman of the state’s Rice Farmers Association, Alhaji Shuaibu Wakil, in his welcome address, thanked the Federal Government and the CBN for the gesture, which he assured will boost production and reduce the importation of rice into the country.

    He further listed the categorisation of beneficiaries according to the number of hectares of land held by each member, with members holding as much as five hectares of  farm land getting as much as N1,392,485, 10 bags each of Urea, fertilizer and rice seedlings, water pumping machines, pesticides and so on.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture who is also the deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Manir Yakubu, who was represented by a director in the Ministry, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’id Mohammed, said the scheme has been adopted as part of the restoration agenda of the state government on agriculture. He assured the farmers of continued government assistance and encouragement to boost food production.

     

     

    The representative of the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), Alhaji Isah Bello also used the occasion to advise the farmers to always partner with the agency to secure their farms and products against natural disasters and loses

  • CBN boosts forex market with $210m intervention

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday injected $210 million into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market.  The intervention is in line with the apex bank’s quest to guarantee the availability of forex for customers’ needs in various segments of the market.

    Figures obtained from the CBN showed that that the regulator offered $100 million to authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $55 million.

    Customers requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.

    The bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the figures and reassured the public that the Bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market in line with its desire to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.

  • External reserve hits $46b, says CBN

    Nigeria’s External Reserves now stands at $46 billion as at the close of business on Friday.

    Figures released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the weekend indicate that the reserves grew by about $3.2 billion between February and March 2018.

    The reserves at the beginning of 2018 stood at $39.3 billion, then rose to $42.8 in February before hitting the new high of $46 billion.

    CBN Acting  Corporate Communications Director Isaac Okorafor attributed the continued accretion to the country’s reserves to “the Bank’s effort at vigorously discouraging unnecessary importation and reducing the nation’s import Bill; inflow from oil and non-oil exports, as well as the huge inflows through the investors and exporters window of the foreign exchange market,” which he said had attracted over $33 billion since April 2017, when it was created.

    At the close of commodities trading on Friday, March 9, 2018, Brent Crude, sold at $65.49 a barrel up by 2.54%.

    According to him, “the Bank’s interventions in the foreign exchange window had also helped to moderate the pressure on the FOREX reserves by sustaining liquidity in the market and boosting production and trade.”

    Okorafor also noted that the CBN policy restricting access to FOREX from Nigeria’s foreign exchange market to importers of some 41 items had made a huge impact on the status of Nigeria’s reserves and boosted the supply of local substitutes for imported goods, created jobs at home and enhanced the incomes of farmers and local manufacturers.

  • CBN’s stress test shows oil assets big risks to banks

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) bi-annual banking industry stress test carried out to evaluate the resilience of banks to credit risk, liquidity, interest rate, has shown the deteriorating state of oil sector assets in banks’ balance sheets.

    Signed by CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, the test report showed that despite the deteriorating state of oil assets and slow growth in the economy, the economy is on the path to full recovery and as forecasted, will return to normal growth this year.

    The CBN’s Financial Stability Report for the first half of last year premised the recovery on the expected stability in oil prices, responsive monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policy.

    The bank assured that it will continue to monitor developments in the sector to keep lenders safe   and   sound.

    The report linked oil asset deterioration in lenders’ books to lingering impact of macroeconomic instability which trailed the oil price shock in 2014.

    According to the apex bank, industry asset quality deteriorated in the first half of last year as Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio rose 2.2 percentage points to 15 per cent from 12.8 per cent in the 2016 fiscal year.

    The report said that regulatory attention was being focused on ensuring an improvement in the quality of banks’ assets  as  well  as  ensuring  that  the  banks  contribute  effectively  to  the  real  sector.

    It said the disruptions experienced  in  the  economy  with declining  oil prices  and  government  revenue resulted  in  an  increase  in  the  NPLs  in  the  banking  industry.

    The  CBN said it  will continue  to  monitor  developments  and  initiate  measures  to  limit  contagion  and  ensure  that financial   institutions   remain   safe   and   sound. The regulator promised to ensure the provision of appropriate structures and policies in financial institutions to curb money laundering and financing of terrorism.

     

     

     

  • CBN sustains intervention in forex market

    To guarantee liquidity in the market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), injected  $355.43 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) at the weekend.

    Figures obtained from the CBN over the weekend revealed that the figure was to meet requests in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.

    The Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor confirmed the figures, reiterating that the CBN interventions in the market were aimed at sustaining liquidity in the market as well as boosting production and trade.

    He explained that with increasing accretion to the country’s reserve, the Bank is in a much better position to ensure liquidity in the inter-bank sector of the market and as such would continue to intervene in order to drive growth in the economy and guarantee stability in the market, particularly now that the economy had gained steam due to an upsurge in the non-oil sector.

    With the rates closing at N360/$1 last Friday, Okorafor, expressed confidence that the bank’s forex intervention underscored its determination to maintain the country’s external reserves in order to safeguard the international value of the Naira.

    It will be recalled that the CBN, in its last SMIS in February 2018, injected  $321.4 million into the interbank market, while also intervening in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market to the tune of $210,000,000, comprising $100million for the wholesale segment and $55 million for both the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisibles segment.

  • Fed Govt earns N658.6b from oil, non-oil receipts, says CBN

    About N658.56 billion was recieved by the Federal Government from oil  and  non-oil sectors, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Economic report released has said.

    The figure, which is for November, showed that oil receipts stood at N417.74 billion  and while non-oil receipts stood at N240.85 billion, and constituted 63.4 per  cent  and 36.6 per  cent,  respectively,  of  total  revenue.

    The figure fell below both the monthly budget estimate and the    receipts in the  preceding  month.

    The Federal Government’s    retained    revenue    and    estimated    expenditure were N207.91 billion and N293.38 billion, respectively, resulting  in an estimated deficit of N85.47 billion.

    Sustained non-expansionary monetary policy stance by the CBN in the reviewed month led to contraction in major monetary aggregates and downward  trend in inflationary pressure.

    On month-on-month  basis, broad  money  supply  (M2), fell by 0.8 per  cent  to N22.3 billion, on account  of the three per  cent  and 1.6 per  cent decline in  domestic credit (net) and  other assets (net) of the banking system, respectively.

    The  average  prime and  maximum lending  rates fell  to  17.77  per cent and  30.95  per  cent,  respectively.

    Consequently,  the  spread  between the  average  term  deposit  and  the  average  maximum  lending  rates narrowed  to  22.25 percentage  points  at  end-November 2017 from 22.43  percentage  points in  the  preceding  month.  Also,  the  spread between  the  average  savings  deposit  and  maximum  lending  rates declined  to 26.43 percentage  points from  26.85  percentage  points  in October 2017.