Author: Marketforces Africa

Interbank Rates Dip as Money Market Condition Improves The interbank rates declined as a sign of liquidity shone brightly in the money market. The financial system liquidity pressure eased for the first time this week despite the absence of significant inflows. Series of auction sales and bank demand for funding were identified as major impediments to liquidity boost in the financial system. The Central Bank has recently conducted Treasury and OMO bill auctions, which were debited against the liquidity balance in the system. Banks activities at the standing lending facility have however been constrained by an elevated rate on short…

Naira Falls by 6% as FX Market Crisis Gets Messy The naira fell sharply by about 6% in the foreign exchange market amidst untimely FX auction sales to authorised dealer banks. Positive expectations have continued to be dampened by the uncertainty surrounding the FX auction’s timing. Nigeria’s gross external reserves balance increased to $36.730 billion on Sept. 10 due to two consecutive inflows. Weak to date, the foreign reserve has increased by $338 billion, MarketForces Africa reported. Despite a sustained FX liquidity challenges, analysts said the apex bank has no scheduled FX auction timeline with rather infrequent intervention for the…

The domestic bourse, on Thursday, rebounded with N178 billion profit, following gains from Tier-one banks, as well as some large and medium capitalised

The Federal Government is collaborating with the World Bank on a new project to enhance education quality, access, teacher support, and development, as well

President Bola Tinubu was received on Wednesday at Buckingham Palace, London, UK, by King Charles III for a private meeting.

Nigeria’s Total Imports Rise 98% in 12-Month to N12.5Trn Total importation into the Nigerian economy increased by about 98% year on year to about N13 trillion amidst foreign exchange reform. The imported goods increased at a huge rate since the naira was devalued mid year in 2023. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), total importation declined by more than 10.7% between March and June 2024. The Bureau stated that the value of total imports printed at ₦12,473.53 billion in the second quarter of 2024. This represents a decrease of 10.71% when compared with ₦13, 970.05…

CBN Cuts Spot Rates on Nigerian Treasury Bills The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has further hammered spot rates on Treasury bills sold to investors in the primary market auction (PMA) on Wednesday. At the auction, the apex bank made available a total of N161.9 billion worth of Treasury bills to investors for subscription across the standard maturities. The Treasury bills auction, which was split into 91-day bills, 182 and 364 day bills, was heavily oversubscribed as market actors’ parked huge funds into the naira assets. The Treasury bills auction results showed a bid-to-offer and bid-to-cover at 3.47x apiece, CardinalStone…

Money Market Rates Jump as Financial System Liquidity Falls Money market rates worsened as liquidity balance in the financial system remained tight on Wednesday. The rate adjustment is expected to affect interest bearing deposits and mutual funds accounts. The short term benchmark interest rates have been under pressure this week. The total balance in the financial system worsened further midweek in the absence of significant inflows that could support the funding demand of players in the money market. According to Cowry Asset Limited, the Nigeria interbank offered rate (NIBOR) rose across most maturities, reflecting tighter liquidity conditions. Due to the…

Naira Sees Strong Gain as Nigeria Receives Huge FX Inflow The naira experienced sharp daily appreciation of about 5% in the foreign currency market on Wednesday after data showed a lump sum boosted the gross balance in Nigeria’s external reserves. In the Nigerian autonomous foreign exchange market, the naira appreciated by 4.81% to close the trading session at the exchange rate of ₦1,558.75 per US dollar.  The local currency appreciated following a record inflow of $250 million into gross external reserves on Monday. Analysts are of the view that Nigeria would requires strong FX liquidity to recalibrate exchange rate direction.…

US Dollar Falls Ahead of Consumer Price Data The US dollar fell against its major trading partners early Wednesday, except for an improvement versus the British pound, as markets focused their attention on consumer price index (CPI) data for August. As one of the last remaining key data points before the Sept. 17-18 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, CPI will help determine the size of the rate cut expected at the meeting. Both overall and core CPI are expected to repeat their July gains with 0.2% increases in August. The year-over-year rate for overall CPI is expected to slow to…