Author: Olu Anisere

Akwa Ibom Eno Presents N1.39 Trillion Budget for 2026 Gov. Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom on Tuesday presented a budget of N1.39 trillion for the 2026 financial year before the state House of Assembly. Speaking at the presentation, Eno said that recurrent expenditure stood at N354.87 billion, while N1.035 trillion would be used for capital expenditure. The governor said that the 2026 budget represented a decrease of 16 per cent in the 2025 revised budget of N1.65 trillion. He further said that the total capital receipts and expenditure for 2026 was estimated at N1.15 trillion, as against the revised provision…

Nigeria Recorded N2.06trn VAT in Q2 2025, says NBS The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the aggregate Value Added Tax (VAT) stood at N2.06 trillion in Q2 2025. This is according to the VAT Q2 2025 Report released in Abuja on Tuesday. The report shows a decrease of 0.03 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis from N2.06 trillion recorded in Q1 2025. The report also showed that local payments recorded were N1.09 trillion while foreign VAT payments contributed N459.95 billion, while import VAT contributed N508.55 billion in Q2 2025. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the report showed that real estate…

Naira Gains after CBN Tops FX Interventions with $150m The Nigerian naira rallied at the forex market after the Central Bank (CBN) topped up FX sales amidst rising external reserves, which continues to boost investors’ and the market’s confidence in the exchange rate outlook.  The official exchange rate saw a sharp daily gain, reflecting a stronger US dollar volume available for closing eligible foreign transactions. Sources said the Apex Bank injected dollars into FX market, though official data has not been made available to know the size. The CBN sold an additional $150 million on Friday, which was not captured,…

Africa, Europe Can Shape Fairer Global System – UN Chief UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Africa and Europe can help shape a fairer global system as international power rapidly shifts toward a multipolar world with influence increasingly spread across several regions. He explained that multipolarity, in which power was distributed rather than concentrated, did not guarantee peace and warned that without strong cooperation such shifts could intensify geopolitical rivalries instead of fostering stable international relations. Speaking at a summit between the African Union and European Union, he argued the two regions could form a central axis of a fairer world…

Washington, Kiev Agree On Ukraine Peace Plan Washington and Kiev have reportedly reached agreement on the most important elements of the United States’ proposed plan to end the ongoing war in Ukraine, officials said Tuesday. Rustem Umerov, former defence minister and current secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, confirmed the development, noting progress in Geneva negotiations. “Our delegations reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva,” Umerov, a member of Ukraine’s negotiating team, said in a statement. He added that Ukraine now counted on support from European partners in the next steps…

Debt Office Hikes Interest Rates on Nigerian Bonds The Debt Management Office (DMO) hiked spot rates on Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds at the primary market auction conducted on Monday. The DMO conducted its monthly bonds auction with two offers across 5- and 7-year reopenings worth N460 billion available for subscriptions. Market participation was weaker than anticipated despite excess liquidity in the financial system at the time, though subscription still surpassed offer size with significant appetite for longer duration. Investors demanded higher rates despite disinflation and the expectation of an interest rate cut this week. Total subscription for the…

British Pound Sticks to $1.31 Ahead of UK Budget The British pound, or sterling, hovered around $1.31 as traders now waiting to digest the UK Budget details, with curiosity rising over the finance minister’s plan amidst tight economic conditions. The market has shifted attention to UK Chancellor’s budget on Wednesday as confidence in boardrooms has grown increasingly fragile as the Budget nears. Sterling carved a ledge near $1.3040 in the last three sessions and held above the month’s low closer to $1.3010. Sterling edged up a little through $1.3110 on Monday before stalling ahead of initial resistance near $1.3130. A…

Bitcoin Rises to $88K as Crypto Investors Sentiment Improves Bitcoin (BTCUSD) is climbing in the cryptocurrency market as investors stepped up position-taking activities in the world’s largest digital asset. Trading above $88k, BTCUSD fluctuation has been driven by investors liquidating leverage positions amidst strong ETF outflows. At press time, the token has surpassed $88k, trailing closely behind $90k – stuck between bound and looming death cross. Technical signals showed that BTC has reached an oversold, but its ability to breach resistance depends on investors’ appetite. Several creators argue that BTC’s pattern mirrors past “final flush” corrections, where 80k acts as…

Equity Investors Lose N69bn as NGX Opens Bearish Equity investors lost N69 billion on Monday as sell-side actors continue to book profit on companies’ stocks across sectoral indexes.  The market opened negative after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market cap fell by N2.09 trillion last week. The All-Share Index decreased by 108.01 basis points today, or -0.08%, to close at 143,614.61. The stock market capitalisation reduced by ₦68.68 billion to close at ₦91.34 trillion. Investors traded with caution amidst expectations that the monetary policy committee will reduce Nigeria’s benchmark interest rate after the completion of its bimonthly meeting. The seller market…

Banks’ Placement at CBN Window Falls by 40% Amidst OMO Actions Deposit money banks’ (DMBs) placements at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) window declined by 40% week on week while system liquidity crashed. System liquidity reduced sharply as the monetary authority stepped up its open market operations, with huge OMO bills offer sizes across two primary market auctions. The CBN was active in the money market last week, selling OMO and Nigerian Treasury bills to investors to mop up excess funds and replace expired short-term securities. The related auction outflows reduce the excess liquidity, though…