The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

  • Economy: Don predicts further drop in inflation rate

    Prof. Uche Uwaleke, a financial expert, has predicted a further decrease in the rate of inflation for March 2017 as it was the case in February.

    Uwaleke , the Head of Banking and Finance, Nasarawa State University, Lafia, made the prediction in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN ) on Tuesday in Abuja.

    He hinged the decline on the continued appreciation of the Naira due to the interventions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    He said Nigeria’s currency would continue to appreciate if the interventions were sustained and urged the apex bank to ensure proper monitoring of the situation.

    “The headline inflation figure for March is likely to witness further drop year- on -year as we saw in the month of February.

    “The pass through effect of the naira appreciation will gradually manifest as time goes on especially if the interventions are sustained.

    ” The CBN should continue to monitor the situation, to ensure that the current effort of the apex bank at converging exchange rates was not undermined

    “Some banks are alleged to be making it difficult for importers with confirmed Letters of Credit to access Forex.

    NAN reports that Nigeria’s consumer prices increased by 17.78 per cent year-on-year in February  2017, following 18.72 per cent gain in the previous year.

    The inflation rate slowed for the first time in 15 months.

  • LCCI to CBN: Grant exporters free access to export proceeds

    LCCI to CBN: Grant exporters free access to export proceeds

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review its foreign exchange policy that restricts exporters’ free access to their export proceeds.

    The Director-General, Mr Muda Yusuf, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that the policy was detrimental to non-oil export and did not motivate exporters.

    “The Chamber has received several complaints from exporters about the adverse effects of current foreign exchange policy on export business.

    “The policy hurts exporters as it denies them of the natural advantage of increased profitability which a weak currency offers.

    “Indeed, many Asian economies deliberately devalue their currencies to stimulate their export sectors.

    “A major advantage of weak currency is the incentives it provides to exporters because the currency depreciation makes exports cheaper, boosts demand for exports, creates more business for exporters and improves profitability.

    “It also makes it possible for the export sector to create more jobs, contribute to recovery and growth of the economy.

    “But the foreign exchange policy has denied exporters this very important advantage as they are denied unfettered access to their export proceeds,” he said.

    According to him, the current regulation makes banks custodians of export proceed which they covert to local currency for exporters at official rate.

    “Given the free market premium of about 35 per cent, the policy represents a major disincentive to export business.

    “Yet export sector development is one of the major planks of the economic diversification programme of the present administration,” Yusuf said.

    The director-general said that the policy resulted in a decline in official declaration of export proceeds and led to sharp practices and corruption in export documentation processes.

    “This is a major shortcoming of the current foreign exchange policy of the CBN.

    “It does not augur well for the economy and not consistent with the objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP),” he said.

    “Yusuf urged the CBN and the Economic Management Team to urgently review the policy and not impose conversion rates on exporters.

    “All forms of restrictions to foreign exchange inflows should be removed so that the supply side of the market can be positively impacted and reduce the current pressure on the Forex market.”

    Yusuf said that implementing this would complement recent efforts of CBN to ease the pressure on the foreign exchange market, strengthen the naira exchange rate, bolster foreign reserves and boost investors’ confidence.

     

  • Kaduna: Footballers to earn N150,000 monthly in work and play scheme

    A new arrangement that will see young footballers in Kaduna State earn decent monthly wages outside their playing field has been introduced by Bizi Mobile Cashless Consultants.

    The scheme, “Work and Play’’ was launched on Thursday at the Maimuna Gawarzo Primary School football pitch, Tudun Wada, Kaduna.

    According to the initiators, under the scheme, each footballer that is involved will earn nothing less than N150,000 monthly.

    The Managing Director of Bizi Mobile Cashless Consultants, Aminu Bizi, told newsmen on Friday in Kaduna that the scheme was borne out of his desire to encourage talented footballers to keep playing without a professional signing.

    Bizi said that earning the money would sustain them and their families.

    He said that as a former footballer and administrator, he was aware of the financial challenges footballers who had not made it face, hence, he came up with a way out.

    “The footballers can engage in their usual training with various teams which is the play part of the scheme.

    “They also will engage themselves positively by being agents of Bizi Mobile partners like Access Bank and Ecobank by engaging people in mobile banking and earn a decent livelihood.’’

    He said: “In view of the deadline handed down by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for charges to begin on withdrawals and deposits above N500,000 done in cash, more mobile cashless transactions would be sought for.

    “Hence, the need for more agents and the creation of jobs’’.

    At an exhibition match played between hosts, KKD of Tudun Wada and visiting Moses Dayo FC of Narayi, the visitors scored a late goal to win.

    Both teams had tied 1-1 with the visitors opening scoring and the crowd went wild with jubilation when an equaliser came after several attempts.

    Notable dignitaries spotted at the exhibition match included the Kaduna State Football Association Secretary, Alhaji Abdussalam Jere, who was accompanied by the FA officials from Zaria and Chairman Kaduna United Supporters Club, Alhaji Ya’u Inuwa.

  • Discos to FG save us from forex black marketers 

    …Blames power outage on transmission constraints

     

    The association of Nigerian electricity distributors (ANED) Director of Research and Advocacy, Bar. Sunday Oduntan Wednesday called on the Federal Government to save the DisCos from the hands of black marketers of foreign exchange (forex).

    He urged the government to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give priority to the power sector operators in order to save them from purchasing dollars from the black market.

    His words: “we have been calling on the Federal Government to get the CBN to give us priority, so that we don’t have to go to the black market to buy dollar. So the one that is going on now, is beneficial to us. If dollar improves against the dollar it will benefit the DISCO’s”

    Citing an example with metering, Oduntan said that “we have about 2.9m customers yet to be metered ,and if you look at the amount of money required to do that even at the minimum of N53,000 per meter , it can be more than that now because of forex issue. If forex goes down it can still go below that 53,000 that means we need billions of naira to take care of that”.

    According to him, the government needs to do more to fix the power sector as that is the only way to fix the economic situation of the country.

    Oduntan blamed the constant power outage on transmission bottleneck, noting that areas like Apo, Central Area, Katampe and Gwagwalada are experiencing power outage, owing to defective facilities of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    Oduntan, however said that instead of simply blaming the situation on the TCN, he would rather urge the Federal Government to strengthen it for efficiency through sufficient investment.

    According to him, the Federal Government needs to urgently and critically support the entire value chain, in order to make the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) profitable or commercially viable.

    He said “N701 billion intervention fund is a good start but without a holistic resolution and details of how the intervention will work, we will not make progress, that is our reaction to that intervention. There must be a holistic resolution for the whole value chain from the upstream to downstream.so that for me in the downstream side of the sector, if I am buying a product at the rate of N68 and I am only allowed to sell it for N31.50,there is no way it can be commercially viable”. He added that the support needs to go down not just the GENCOs.

    He appealed to the general public to pay their bills, adding that electricity theft has remained one of the factors weighing down the efforts of the DISCos adding that the association appeals to the National Assembly to consider passing an anti-electricity theft bill, and create mobile courts to formally prosecute energy thieves.

    He called on the key players in the energy sector, to adopt “SCADA” a technology which according to him, can help monitor the activities of power facilities nationwide.

     

  • Financial inclusion: We are concerned about the unbanked, says Emefiele

    Financial inclusion: We are concerned about the unbanked, says Emefiele

    The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said that financial education remains of great importance to the bank, until financial services becomes affordable to the un-banked in the society.

    Emefiele, represented by CBN’s Director, Human Resources, Mr. Edward Lamtek , said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the Financial Literacy Summit to commemorate the 2017 Global Money Week, with the theme “Learn, Save, Earn”.

    Present at the summit were primary and junior secondary students from various public and private schools within the Federal Capital Territory.

    He said that financial inclusion ensures that irrespective of income level, all individuals, households and businesses have access to appropriate and affordable financial services products.

    “We are concerned about the level of financial inclusion because individuals and households lacking adequate access to affordable and convenient formal financial services would be severely constrained in participating fully in the economy.

    “This will imply that the financial sector would be constrained in terms of expansion, as the disposable income in the hands of excluded persons could constitute greater savings and wider deposit base for banks.

    “To address our financial inclusion challenges, we have continued to implement various initiatives to ensure that as much of the eligible target population has the opportunity to access a variety of financial services.

    “These services, ranges from credit, savings and payments, remittances, pensions, capital markets and insurance services,” he said.

    Emefiele said that for consumers to fully utilise these services, it was important that they increase their financial literacy skills, complemented by consumer protection measures of the CBN.

    The CBN boss expressed happiness over the approval of the Financial Literacy Curriculum at basic and senior secondary schools level, which would commence at the beginning of the 2017/2018 academic year.

    He said that the apex bank was currently developing a Teacher’s Guide to aid the teaching of financial education in formal school system.

    “This I hope will be one of my legacies to the youth and to the country as the CBN Governor,” he said.

    Meanwhile, The Director, Consumer Protection, CBN, Mrs. Umma Dutse reiterated the apex bank’s commitment to ensure financial inclusion, through continued financial education of consumers.

    “It is only when the vast majority of the Nigerian population is financially literate that they can participate and take up opportunities from the formal financial system, thereby contributing to financial stability.

    “Financial education is no doubt crucial to the future and stability of our financial system,” she said.

    It will be recalled that a survey conducted in Nigeria in 2008 by a development finance organisation, the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access revealed that about 53 per cent of adults were excluded from financial services.

    The global pursuit of financial inclusion as a vehicle for economic development had a positive effect in Nigeria as the exclusion rate reduced from 53 per cent in 2008 to 46.3 per cent in 2010.

    Encouraged by the positive development, the CBN on October 23, 2012 launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy aimed at further reducing the exclusion rate to 20 per cent by 2020.

    Specifically, adult Nigerians with access to payment services is to increase from 21.6 per cent in 2010 to 70 per cent in 2020, while those with access to savings should increase from 24 per cent to 60 per cent.

    Also, access to credit is targeted to increase from 2 per cent to 40 per cent, Insurance from 1 per cent to 40 per cent and Pensions from 5 per cent to 40 per cent, within the same period.

  • Naira: Senator commends CBN over bullish intervention

    Naira: Senator commends CBN over bullish intervention

    A member of the National Assembly, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its effort at strengthening the Naira against the dollar.

    Uzodinma, who represents Imo West Senatorial District, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the recent appreciation of the naira was commendable and should be sustained to put the economy back on track.

    He called on relevant stakeholders, including government agencies, to support the CBN in taking further measures that would check the exchange rate.

    “The Central Bank of Nigeria must be supported in its efforts at bringing down the foreign exchange rate and make Naira stronger.

    “If trade facilitation is to be realised, if business will blossom in Nigeria, we need a strong currency and the key to any strong economy is predominantly based on the value and concept of the exchange rate.

    “So, if our local currency is strong, if our purchasing power is strong, it means that our economy will be strong.

    “The only way this can happen is to support the current effort of the Central Bank of Nigeria to encourage them to ensure that the exchange rate for US dollar to a naira will come up.

    “Government has a responsibility to support our policy managers and economic managers in their various policies.

    “Whatever has made the exchange rate as at today to be better than few weeks back, we have a responsibility and a duty as a matter of fact to support it,’’ he said.

    Uzodinma, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff, urged the CBN to ensure that commercial banks complied with foreign exchange guidelines, particularly on import and export.

    “The guidelines as produced by the CBN are very straight and strict.

    “But, what has happened over the years, why is the government revenue missing, is it because of poor monitoring?

    “If the commercial banks, the importers and exporters are made to comply with the foreign exchange rate, the comprehensive import supervision scheme will be able to produce the expected result,’’ he said.

     

     

  • Sarah Alade retires as Deputy Governor from 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.

     

  • Taraba: Governor’s wife partners CBN on entrepreneurship training

    Mrs. Anna Ishaku, the Wife of Taraba State Governor and Founder, Hope Afresh Foundation, says her foundation has gone into partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to train 220 unemployed youths in the state.

    Ishaku disclosed this in Jalingo on Wednesday while inspecting facilities at the Skills Acquisition Centre of Taraba State University in preparation for the take-off of the training.

    She said the exercise was intended to build capacity and help to make participants self-reliant.

    The wife of the governor said that the training would be open to women, youths, physically challenged and all interested unemployed persons.

    Mrs. Helen Douglas, the Project Manager of Hope Afresh Foundation, said the CBN Entrepreneurship Development Training had been in existence for over two years in the North-East zone.

    According to her, most of the states in the zone had been benefitting from the CBN gesture.

    She expressed regret that Taraba had not been able to key into the scheme due to the ‘I-Don’t-Care’ attitude of the people.

    “The training for this zone normally holds in Maiduguri, the zonal headquarters, but because of the distance, the Governor’s wife requested that the training for Taraba citizens be done in Jalingo.

    “The training is open to everyone that is interested and will last for four weeks for theoretical training and eight weeks for internship.

    “At the end of the training, participants will be issued certificates as well as connected to particular financial institutions where they will get loans to start up their businesses,” she said.

    The project manager also announced that the first batch of the beneficiaries would commence the training on April 7.

     

  • Naira to sell at N415/$ as CBN sustains intervention – Gwadabe

    Naira to sell at N415/$ as CBN sustains intervention – Gwadabe

    The naira will trade at N415 to a dollar as the series of intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are sustained, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe has said.

    Gwadabe, President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that the new Forex policy had eliminated frivolous demand for dollar.

    According to him, frivolous demand for dollar has been responsible for the weakness of naira.

    The ABCON chief said that CBN’s continued intervention at the Forex market would soon spell doom for speculators and currency hoarders.

    “Currency speculators and hoarders would suffer more losses as the CBN injects more dollars to the interbank market.

    “The sustained intervention by the CBN will technically take speculators out of business.

    “My expectation is that if both volumes and applicable exchange rates are reviewed for the BDC sub-sector, naira would be trading at N415 to a dollar,’’ Gwadabe said.

    The ABCON chief said that the CBN had recorded a huge success because of its new policy, adding that the naira had continued to strengthen at the parallel market, exchanging at N435 to a dollar.

    He told NAN that granting of more access to the BDCs at the International Money Transfer Services Operators (IMTSO) window would help to further strengthen naira against the dollar.

    NAN reports that the CBN has injected over 1.5 billion dollars since February when it started its intervention at the interbank market.
    The apex bank said that its aim was to bring stability to the foreign exchange market and provide easy access of foreign currencies to businesses and individuals.

    The CBN had on Monday injected additional 180 million dollars dollars since February when it started its intervention to meet bids for wholesale auction and requests for invisibles such as medicals, school fees and personal travel allowances.

     

  • Naira sells at N440-N445 per dollar

    Naira sells at N440-N445 per dollar

    The Naira on Monday continued to extend its gains against the dollar at the parallel market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The Nigerian currency exchanged at N440 (buying rate) and N445 (Selling rate) to a dollar, from N445/N450 it traded on Friday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N530 and N465.

    At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira exchanged at N398 (buying rate) and N400 (selling rate), while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N545 and N480.

    Trading at the interbank market showed that the Naira closed at N307.50 to a dollar.

    Traders at the market said they were happy with the level of liquidity but appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sustain it to further reduce the gap between the official and parallel market rates.

    Meanwhile, Prof. Sherifdeen Tella, a Senior Economist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun, has said that injecting dollars into the interbank market by the CBN is not sustainable.

    “I don’t think that injecting dollars into the interbank market is a permanent solution to the challenges at the FOREX market.

    “It is only a temporary measure,’’ Tella said

    The don, who noted that speculators were the major drivers of volatility in the FOREX market, said that the CBN should change the colours of the N1000 and N500 notes to force them to bring out the currencies in their coffers.

    Tella called for a reduction in the benchmark interest rate by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the CBN, to enable startups to borrow money to finance their businesses.