An enlightening synopsis of the Nigerian economy by Chidi Ileka, Head Transaction Banking, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. Yesterday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the Q2 GDP growth rate and July 2016 inflation. The second consecutive quarter of negative GDP growth shows Nigeria is officially in a recession. ...
Read More »CBN’s big stick and the Naira
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wielded the big stick on Tuesday August 23, 2016 by suspending nine banks from the foreign exchange (forex) market for their failure to remit a total of $2.334 billion Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company dollar deposits to the Federal Government’s ...
Read More »Forex crisis and Hezbollah rockets
You wonder what correlation there is between foreign exchange (forex) and Hezbollah rockets? …I’ll tell you a tale. A few days ago, I was in a business discussion with the Trade Manager of a manufacturing Company in Ikeja, Lagos. A fine Gentleman from Myanmar, given to dramatics, Jack would usually ...
Read More »CBN and the flexible exchange rate system
After several months of grappling with the dwindling fortunes of the naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) finally liberalised the foreign exchange (FX) market by the re-introduction of the flexible exchange rate inter-bank market. The move, which the CBN Governor stressed, is in line with the bank’s objectives of; ...
Read More »The impact of the US Fed rate hike on the Naira
The recent decision by the US Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) to hike interest rate for the first time in almost a decade is triggering serious concerns around the world and poised to further pressure the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to devalue the Naira. The move is expected to lead ...
Read More »CBN eventually yields to sound reasoning
After four months of intense engagement by stake holders, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) eventually yielded to sound reasoning and released a circular, allowing importers of the restricted 41 items, that have letters of credit opened prior to the policy change, access to the foreign exchange market. The CBN had ...
Read More »A ray of hope for beleaguered manufacturers?
“Without doubt, therefore, the future of manufacturing will remain bleak in the near future in the present circumstances” Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs (MON), President MAN With the foreign exchange market fraught with uncertainty in recent months, it has been a tale of agony for Nigeria’s beleaguered manufacturers, who are unable ...
Read More »The curious rebound of the Naira
The last week of July 2015 was noteworthy in Nigeria for the curious rebound of the Naira against the Dollar. In a strange chain of events, since the removal of some items from the foreign exchange market sparked off an alarming slide of the Naira in the parallel market, the ...
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