LAST WEEK
CBN
In continuation of its intervention in the foreign exchange market, the Central Bank of Nigeria Monday boosted the market by $195 million in the three segments. Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of CB N, Isaac O kora for, said this in a statement. Okorafor stated, “In the wholesale segment of the inter-bank foreign exchange market, the bank auctioned $100 million and also intervened in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with $50 million.The invisible segment was also offered $45 million intervention. The intervention in the new week followed the major intervention last week of 462,336,426.74 million dollars.”
Tax
The federal government on Monday announced the lifting of the administrative suspension on the processing of pioneer status incentives applications for prospective investors in the country. The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment said the decision to lift the suspension followed the conclusion of critical reforms to the incentive regime aimed at promoting investment in the country.
NNPC
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said its four most recent investments with key upstream joint venture partners could increase Nigeria’s revenue by over $30 billion in the next decade. Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, said in a statement, “These four projects alone are going to raise incremental revenues to Nigeria of over $30 billion over the life of the projects in less than 10 years. The $1.2 billion multi-year drilling for 36 offshore/onshore oil wells under the N NP C/ Chevron Nigeria Limited, code named project Cheetah, and the NNPC/First E and P JV and Schlumberger tripartite $800 million alternative funding agreement for the development of the Anyalu and Madu fields in the Niger Delta, were listed by the GMD as the critical Joint Venture alternative financing Upstream Investment.”
Reserves
Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $31.22 billion, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The country’s reserves have been affected by the ripple effects of the economic challenges being faced by Africa’s largest economy, including low oil prices, crumbling naira value and high foreign exchange demands. The last time the reserves peaked at such level was July 2015, shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari took office. The CBN data indicated appreciation in reserves amid forex intervention in the various exchange markets by the apex bank.The CBN is believed to have injected a cumulative sum of $3.61 billion between February and April 2017.
Naira
The naira appreciated against the dollar at the parallel market, exchanging at N363 to the dollar, from the N364. The pound sterling and the Euro closed at N477 and N428 to the naira, respectively. At the Bureau De Change window, the naira was traded at N363 to the dollar, while the pound sterling and the Euro closed at N477 and N428, respectively. Trading at the investors’ window saw the naira closing at N367.50 to the dollar. Traders expressed optimism that the interventions by the CBN at the market were capable of closing the gap further between the rates at the parallel market and the other segments.