Business

Cash Returns to ATMs As Banks Confirm Receiving More Money

Published

8 months ago

March 27, 2023

Eric

The Central Bank of Nigeria has released more old notes to Deposit Money Banks as the apex bank steps up efforts to flood the economy with more cash after a prolonged cash crunch that has made life difficult for millions of Nigerians and residents.

The CBN had on Thursday begun the release of billions of naira to DMBs. Bank officials said the CBN again released several billions of naira to lenders on Friday

The Punch reports how several branches of banks opened over the weekend and dispensed cash to their customers via Automated Teller Machines and over-the-counter.

Some of the banks had sent out emails to their customers notifying them that they would be open over the weekend for banking operations as ordered by the apex bank.

Visits to banks’ branches in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun and other states revealed that most banks complied with the order of the CBN and attended to customers both in the banking hall and dispensed cash via ATM.

Most of the banks’ branches along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway and Gbagada area of Lagos opened on Saturday and Sunday and subsequently dispensing cash to their customers.

The Access Bank branch at Sadiku Bus stop along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway dispensed cash via its ATMS.

The United Bank for Africa branch at Oshodi, close to the expressway dispensed cash both in the banking hall and at its ATMs. Customers were able to get N20,000 over-the-counter.

The Access Bank branch next to it allowed its customers to get N20,000 while holders of other banks’’ ATMs got N5,000 only.

Fidelity Bank branch also at Oshodi expressway paid N20,000 inside the banking hall. Of its three ATMs, only one was dispensing, paying other banks’ customers N5,000 and its customers N20,000.

Meanwhile, our correspondent didn’t observe any of the banks dispensing crispy naira notes and customers didn’t care as long as they got the cash.

A taxi driver, who identified himself as Baba Taju, said the kind of naira notes didn’t matter as long as he got some to spend.

“You think that’s important now? What did we do when we couldn’t get any cash? Please any cash is welcome as long as I can spend it,” he said.

Also, customers in the Federal Capital Territory continued to receive naira notes on Sunday.

Some crowds of customers were seen at banks’ ATM galleries while others tried to perform over-the-counter transactions.

Along the airport road, only Guaranty Trust Bank opened for physical operations, Stanbic IBTC loaded its ATMS with cash while Zenith Bank didn’t open for business.

Our correspondent observed that the old N1,000 notes distributed were not crisp ones as officials separated mutilated notes before giving them to customers.

In Ogun State, findings by our correspondent at Zenith Bank, PremiumTrust Bank, GTB, Unity Bank and Access Bank branches in Redemption Camp along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway indicated that all the ATMs were fully loaded with cash

Our correspondent observed that there were no long queues and after the Sunday service, bank customers were allowed to walk in and carry out their normal transactions.

Also, both old and new naira notes were dispensed.

Along the Ojodu-Berger axis of Lagos State, our correspondent visited six banks. The banks were Union Bank Plc, Ecobank, Access Bank, GTB, Zenith Bank, and First Bank. All six banks, apart from Guaranty Trust Bank did not open their banking halls to customers. ATMs were also not loaded.

The Punch

Business

Cooking Gas: FG Intervenes, Set to Crash Price

Published

3 days ago

November 27, 2023

Eric

The Federal government has intervened over the increasing price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), with the Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, urging International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other producers to fulfill their domestic obligations before export.

At a meeting in Abuja, Ekpo told the producers that Nigeria has to find a way to surmount the challenges in the country’s domestic market, expressing President Bola Tinubu’s concerns over how unaffordable the product was becoming. The intervention is coming as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest report said in October, LPG prices rose by as much as 14 per cent for a 12.5 kg cylinder.

But a statement by the minister’s media aide Louis Ibah, on Sunday, said the intervention on the LPG issue, better known as cooking gas, followed the rise in recent months in the price of the product per kg from about N700 to above N900 in some parts of the country.Key challenges identified as responsible for LPG price increase, Ekpo said, include FX sourcing for imports and insufficient supply to the domestic market by producers.

The meeting, at the instance of the minister, was held at the NNPC Towers and had in attendance top officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited led by Sansay Narasimi.Others included: The Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed and officials from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).“Ekpo expressed the concerns of President Bola Tinubu over the astronomical increase in the price of cooking gas and the attendant hardship on majority of citizens,” the statement added.

The minister who noted that Nigeria is abundantly endowed with gas reserves, said the situation where some of the multinational firms were more concerned with gas exports without dedicating huge volumes for the domestic market was unacceptable and should be discouraged.

“With the exponential increase in the price of LPG, there is the need for the federal government to intervene and I am representing this at this moment. We acknowledge that some producers are exporting while we are faced with the challenges of importation.

“Public interest is the overriding interest all over the world for the government, the demand for LPG will increase as we approach December…you have a public service obligation to collaborate with the government to ensure security of gas supply.“We need to therefore bend backwards and find solutions, to ensure that we have sufficient supply and stability in-country and that Nigerians have gas,” said Ekpo.

The gas minister thereafter constituted a committee headed by the chief executive of NMDPRA with a mandate to come up with recommendations on how to boost supplies and crash LPG prices within a week.

However, the NBS in its latest report said the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 8.89 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N4,189.96 recorded in September 2023 to N4,562.51 in October 2023.However, on a year-on-year basis, this increased by 1.76 per cent from N4,483.75 in October 2022, it added.On state profile analysis, Kano recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg of LPG, with N5,181.43, followed by Adamawa with N5,142.86, and Ogun with N5,093.75.

On the other hand, Ebonyi recorded the lowest price with N3,971.43, followed by Osun and Edo with N4,000.00 and N4,025.00 respectively.In addition, analysis by zone showed that the North-west recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of LPG, with N4,738.20, followed by the North-central with N4,662.62, while the South-east recorded the lowest with N4,088.65.

Also, the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg of cooking gas, increased by 14.04 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N9,247.40 in September 2023 to N10,545.87 in October 2023.

On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 4.93 per cent from N10,050.53 in October 2022. On state profile analysis, Edo recorded the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas, with N12,536.88, followed by Jigawa with N12,050.00 and Delta with N11,987.50. Conversely, the lowest average price was recorded in Zamfara with N9,050.00, followed by Lagos and Oyo with N9,071.05 and N9,407.14 respectively.

Analysis by zone showed that the South-south recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas, with N11,480.60, followed by the North-central with N10,683.97, while the South-east recorded the lowest price with N9,847.42.

Business

Despite Buhari’s Rice Pyramid, Nigeria to Become Top Rice Importer Globally in 2024 – USDA

Published

2 weeks ago

November 15, 2023

Eric

… to import 2.1 million metric tons of rice in 2024

Nigeria is projected to import 2.1 million metric tons of rice in 2024, which may make the country the top rice buyer globally.

This is according to the latest Rice Outlook report by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The report notes that global rice trade will hit about 52.85 million tons (milled basis) by 2024, with more exports expected from Brazil and South Korea, and more imports expected from Burkina Faso, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

It read:

“Global rice trade in the calendar year 2024 is projected at 52.85 million tons (milled basis), up 345,000 tons from the previous forecast but 460,000 tons smaller than the year-earlier revised forecast of 53.3 million tons. Export forecasts for 2024 are raised for Brazil and South Korea, while import forecasts are raised for Burkina Faso, Indonesia, and Nigeria, with Indonesia’s import forecast raised 600,000 tons to 2.0 million tons.”

Weaker Crops in Nigeria

According to the report, weaker rice production is expected in Nigeria and seven other countries.

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The report noted: “Rice production is projected to continue to decline in Japan and South Korea due to diet diversification and declining and aging populations. Weaker crops are also projected in 2023/24 for Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mali, Nigeria, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.”

It added that global rice production in 2023/24 is projected at a record 517.8 million tons (milled basis), which is a decrease of 340,000 tons from last month’s forecast but 4.4 million tons larger than a year earlier.

Out of the projected rice production figure, Nigeria is expected to produce about 5.23 million tons.

Top rice importer

Data from the report also showed that Nigeria will likely be the leading importer of rice in 2024.

The country will be followed by Indonesia with an import projection of 2 million metric tons and Brazil with a projection of 900,000 metric tons.

It noted that the import forecast for Nigeria was raised by 100,000 metric tons from the earlier projection in October.

On the reason for the increase, the report noted: “Import forecast is raised based on stronger-than-expected demand for imported rice due to both high prices for domestic rice and quality concerns.” 

More insight

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently lifted the foreign exchange restrictions it placed on importers of rice and 42 other items eight years ago.

This will likely encourage the importation of more rice, among other items, into the country.

There have been mixed reactions following the removal of the restrictions, with some farmers recently showing support for the lifting of the foreign exchange ban on rice importation.

According to this group of farmers, the lifting of the forex ban breaks the monopoly of the processing and marketing of grain by local millers.

Prior to the bank, there appeared to be a decrease in rice import, with data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA), showing a decrease of 98.4% between the first seven months of 2022, and that of 2021.

However, there is also a likelihood that foreign rice is likely smuggled more than it is officially imported into the country.

About a week ago, the Nigeria Customs Service said it seized 13 trailer loads of foreign parboiled rice, among other items.

Recall that in January 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled a rice pyramid in Abuja, saying that the price of rice will fall drastically after the commissioning.

The price of rice has however, continued to hit the roof top ever since, going beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.

Source: Nairametrics

Business

Morgan Stanley Downgrades, Reclassifies Nigeria’s Index to Stand Alone

Published

4 weeks ago

November 1, 2023

Eric

Morgan Stanley Capital International, a provider of benchmark indexes and multi-portfolio analysis tools, has announced the reclassification of MSCI Nigeria indexes from Frontier Markets to Standalone Market Status.

This means MSCI will delete each Nigerian security from the MSCI Frontier Markets Indexes at a price that is effectively zero.

This comes after FTSE Russell reclassified Nigeria’s equity country classification to unclassified from frontier markets on September 8, 2023.

The implication for Nigeria is that whoever brings in his money is on his own due to persistent fx liquidity issues and difficulty in repatriating investments. This is in spite of the CBN’s assurances that foreign investors will be able to repatriate their funds after investing in Nigeria.

The MSCI Nigeria Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Nigerian market.