TheNewsGuru

Tag: Market

  • CBN injects $210m into currency market

    The interbank window of the nation’s foreign exchange market on Tuesday received a boost of $210m from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    The interventions were made at the wholesale, the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises, and invisibles segments of the market.

    The Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said the bank offered the sum of $100m to the wholesale segment, while the SMEs and invisibles segments received the sum of $55m each.

    He reiterated that the releases were meant to boost liquidity, trade and ease of remittances for legitimate personal commitments.

    In spite of the stable exchange rate and the expected inflow from various sources such as the Eurobond and remittances from the Diaspora, Okorafor said the bank would continue to intervene in the inter-bank forex market to guarantee liquidity.

    While also noting that the interventions had largely checked unwholesome activities of currency speculators, he said that the CBN would not relent in its daily monitoring of activities in the market in order to ensure that all concerned operate in line with extant rules.

    The naira has maintained a relatively steady rate against major currencies around the globe, exchanging for N363/$1 at the parallel market in the past few months.

  • Fire razed over 1000 Shops At Kaduna Market

    Fire razed over 1000 Shops At Kaduna Market

    More than 1000 shops were razed by fire on Friday morning at the popular Pantaker building materials market in Kaduna State.

    According to eyewitnesses, the fire started from an electrical spark from one of the shops and later spread to the entire market, destroying properties worth millions of naira.

    Pantaker market, the main hub of building materials in the state capital, has been reduced to heaps of ruins with virtually everything in sight completely burnt after the inferno.

    Although no life was lost, owners of the affected shops who were taken by surprise by the inferno counted their losses to fire.

    The traders also lamented that the late arrival of men of the fire service supposedly worsened the situation.

    Chairman of the market traders’ association, Ibrahim Dauda, told Channels Television that it was not the first time such incident would occur in their market.

    He, however, called on the state government to come to their aid and help rebuild the burnt market.

    Meanwhile, the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, had visited the scene of the incident to assess the level of damage done to the market.

  • Forex: CBN boosts market with $195m ahead of MPC decisions

    …as Naira exchanges for N363/1$ at the parallel market

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday boosted the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market by offering a 195 million dollars in three segments of the Forex market.

    The acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement, said it auctioned 100 million dollars at the wholesale Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) window of the inter-bank Foreign Exchange market.

    He said that the apex bank also intervened in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisible segments, with 50 million dollars and 45 million dollars.

    Okorafor reiterated that the Bank’s intervention was to maintain its commitment to sustain liquidity in the market to meet genuine requests as well as deepen flexibility in the foreign exchange market.

    He said the CBN would continue to work on achieving the objective of convergence of rates in the various segments of the market, and would continue to strive that the forex market guaranteed transparency in the sale of foreign exchange.

    Okorafor said only last week, the CBN threatened to sanction any Deposit Money Bank (DMB) in breach of its earlier directive of March 3.

    The directive instructed them to, among other things, open teller points for retail Forex transactions and to have electronic display boards in all their branches, showing rates of all trading currencies.

    He said the bank’s firm position was to reiterate its commitment to ensure liquidity in the foreign exchange market, where all genuine requests would be met in line with extant forex guidelines, noting that it would foster more transparency and make the public become aware that the facilities existed.

    This week’s intervention is significant, coming in the midst of the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting taking place on Monday and Tuesday.

    Monday’s sale follows the major intervention, last week, to the tune of 545 million dollars as the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) received the largest intervention of 285 million dollars.

    Other segments include the 100 million dollars offered for wholesale SMIS, 90 million dollars for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window and 70 million dollars for invisibles such as Basic Travel Allowances, tuition fees and medical payments.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Naira on Monday closed at N363 to a dollar, N485 to the Pound Sterling and N433 to one Euro at the parallel market.

     

  • Graphic Photos/Video: 10 year old boy, two others die in Owerri market protest

    Reports reaching the TheNewsGuru.com now have it that a violent protest is going on in Owerri, the Imo State capital sequel to the demolition of the Eke Onunwa market by the Rochas Okorocha led state government leaving a ten year old boy and two others dead.

    A video exclusively sourced by the TheNewsGuru.com from impeccable sources at the scene of the incident showed armed police officers shooting at protesters sporadically.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Governor Rochas Okorocha had earlier issued an evacuation order to the traders advising them to relocate to a new site to make way for development at the market site.

    The efforts were resisted by the natives of the area who fought the relocation of the market by the state government.

    However, the market was demolished in the middle of the night by bulldozers already stationed at the scene despite the efforts of the natives.

    This sparked several protests which turned violent.

    According to an eye witness who spoke in confidence to TheNewsGuru.com, violence started when one of the protesters, a young boy, was hit and killed by a stray bullet fired by security operatives deployed to maintain order in the melee which ensued after the demolition.

    The death of the young boy was not taken lightly as Owerri natives proceeded to set fire to the property belonging to some residents.

    This led to a fight between the residents and those protesters resulting in the death of two others.

    Military and police personnel have however been deployed to restore order.

    Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Andrew Enwerem for comments as at press time was not successful as he was said to be out of the state on official assignment.

     

  • Forex: Again, CBN boosts supply, releases $195m into market

    Forex: Again, CBN boosts supply, releases $195m into market

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, intervened in inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market with the supply of 195 million dollars as part of effort to stabilise the market.

    The acting Director, Corporate Communications of the apex bank, Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement, said 100 million dollars was offered through the wholesale segment.

    He said that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received 50 million dollars, while tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, got 45 million dollars.

    Okorafor said that the CBN was pleased with the state of the market, and assured that the bank would continue to intervene in order to sustain liquidity in the market and guarantee international value of the naira.

    He said the apex bank remained determined to achieve its objective of rates convergence, “hence the unrelenting injection of intervention funds into the foreign exchange market’’.

    Okorafor expressed optimism that the naira would sustain its run against the dollar and other major currencies around the world, considering the level of transparency in the market.

    He, therefore, advised stakeholders to abide by the guidelines to ensure transparency in the market.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that just last week, the CBN intervened in the various segments of the foreign exchange market with the injection of 396.8 million dollars.

    Meanwhile, the naira continued to maintain its stability in the market, exchanging at an average of N364 to a dollar in the Bureau de Change segment of the market.

     

  • Again, CBN injects $142.5m into foreign exchange market

    …as Naira exchamges for N364/$1

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday injected 142.5 million dollars into the inter-bank foreign exchange, days after intervening in the retail segment of the market with 254.3 million dollars.

    The spokesperson of the apex bank, Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement, said the CBN would continue to carry out its regular mediation in the market to keep the market liquid and guarantee the international value of the naira in line with its mandate.

    A breakdown of Monday’s intervention indicates that the Bank offered 100 million dollars to dealers in the wholesale segment, while it allocated 23 million dollars to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment.

    Also, for those requiring foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments, business and personal travel allowances received 19.5 million dollars.

    Okorafor said the CBN would not relent in ensuring transparency and efficiency in the sale of Forex.

    According to him, the Bank has mandated dealers to make public their forex utilisation.

    He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to continually play their roles to guarantee transparency in the market.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the CBN last Friday intervened in the retail segment of the forex market to the tune of 254.3 million dollars following bids received from forex dealers by the apex Bank.

    The figure sold by the Bank was for companies in the raw materials, agricultural, airline and petroleum industry.

    Meanwhile, the naira maintained its stand at the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the forex market, exchanging at an average of N364 to a dollar in Abuja.

     

     

     

  • Scarcity: CBN injects $195m into forex market

    Scarcity: CBN injects $195m into forex market

    …as Naira exchanges for N364/$1

    Following its 800 million dollars intervention in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange (FOREX) Market last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, injected 195 million dollars into the market to meet the requests of customers in the various segments of the market.

    The acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor , said in a statement in Abuja that the bank would soon introduce a new FOREX retail option.

    Giving a breakdown of funds injected on Monday, he said the apex bank offered 100 million dollars to authourised dealers through interbank wholesale window, while it allocated 50 million dollars to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window.

    Okorafor said the Invisibles segment was allocated 45 million dollars to meet the needs of those who applied for FOREX to settle Business/Personal Travel Allowances, school tuition and medicals.

    The CBN spokesperson said the bank would continue to ensure adherence to its forex policy by insisting on transparency by stakeholders to guarantee stability in the market.

    The CBN made two major interventions in the inter-bank Forex market last week, totaling 831.5 million dollars.

    Since February 2017, the bank had boosted transactions at the Investors’ and Exporters’ segment of the market to the tune of 2.2 billion dollars.

    Also last week, the CBN, in a bid to tackle inflation, unveiled plan to mop up N200.32 billion from the Nigerian banking system through special Open Market Operation (OMO) at the rate of 16 per cent per annum.

    Meanwhile, the Naira had continued to maintain its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N364 to a dollar at the parallel segment of the market on Monday.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Forex: CBN pumps fresh $482.6m into market

    Forex: CBN pumps fresh $482.6m into market

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday intervened in the inter-bank market to the tune of 482.6 million dollars in the first trading day after the Democracy Day celebrations.

    A statement issued by its Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor in Abuja said that this was part of measures to underline its determination to guard the international value of the naira.

    Okorafor said that a breakdown of the intervention indicates that the retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) was allocated 285.7 million dollars, while the 100 million dollar was offered in the Wholesale SMIS auction window.

    The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window got an allocation of 52 million dollars, while the invisibles segment, comprising Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), medicals and tuition fees, among others was allocated 45 million dollars.

    Okorafor said that the interventions were in line with the Bank’s resolve, echoed by the Governor, Godwin Emefiele at last Tuesday’s briefing of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

    While expressing pleasure that the intervention of the bank had ensured stability across all segments of the Foreign Exchange market, Okorafor expressed optimism that the bank’s objective of exchange rate convergence would be achieved soon.

    Okorafor reiterated his call to all stakeholders to play their respective roles in ensuring a smooth running of the Foreign Exchange market for the overall benefit of the economy.

    According to him, surveys in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port-Harcourt on Tuesday indicated that the dollar traded to the Naira at an average rate of N375 to one dollar.

     

     

     

    NAN