Business

CBN, ICPC, CSO, Others Monitor POS Transaction In Edo Markets

Published

2 months ago

February 10, 2023

As part of its efforts to ameliorate the suffering of the people occasioned by the recent naira notes scarcity, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Benin Branch, on Thursday, commenced the monitoring of banks agents also known as Point Of Sales (POS) payment with lower charges to resident in Benin City.

The banks agents under the strict supervision of the officials of CBN, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and members of the Edo State Civil Society Organisations (EDOSO), were paying their customers a maximum of N5000 per N100 charges.

At the popular Oba Market, Ring Road in Benin, traders and sellers who benefitted from the effortless withdrawal of cash from the POS agents commended CBN for the initiative, saying the exercise would ease their stress of queuing for long hours at the Banks.

They appealed for optimization of the money from N5,000 to N20,000 at least so as to enable them meet other challenges.

The leader of the market women at Ekiosa, Mrs.Janet Ogiamien Iyase thanked the CBN for coming to their rescue through this initiative.

She said they have earlier cried to the state government who invited them to a stakeholders meeting with the leadership of the various banks in the state.

Mrs. Iyase said they were almost losing it, noting that they can neither buy nor sell because there was no money.

“I pray that God should bless the CBN for coming up with this method of cushioning our pains.

“We have really suffered in the past few days but today, I am happy because the money I should have gone to withdraw from the bank, I can now withdraw from you right away”, Iyase said.

Another woman, Mrs. Eghosa Ogiamien Obayagbona who made a withdrawal of N5000 after paying the sum N100 as charges, said the process was seamless.

She added that she had earlier gone to the bank to withdraw money but after wasting much time, she was told that there was no money.

Speaking to journalists during the exercise, the Director, Risk Management Department of CBN, Dr. Blaise Ijebor, said the exercise was to avail the people who have paid into their banks account the old naira notes to withdraw their money for their transaction.

Dr. Ijebor added that it was also aimed at reducing the long queues in the banks.

“We are at Oba Market and we want to help in reducing queues in banks.

“So, we are coming to the markets to allow people who had paid in their old naira notes into the banks to be able to withdraw N5000 at the normal charge of N100 so that we can serve the people and reduce the queues and tension at the banks.

“A lot of people are complaining that they cannot withdraw the money they paid into the banks, now we are giving them the opportunity right here in the market to collect money so that they can continue to transact.

“This is an opportunity for people to get their money and for business to continue to thrive in Edo state”, he said

The CBN director, however, disclosed that “we will be doing this in the next several days to reduce the queue in the bank”.

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Business

25 Nigerian Crude Shipments Struggle To Find Buyers In Europe

Published

6 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Editor

Nigeria is toiling to find buyers for its crude oil as strikes in the French refining sector and seasonal maintenance at European plants cut into the OPEC producer’s sales.

There are reports that about 25 shipments of the country’s crude for April loading were still searching for buyers, according to four traders specialising in the West African market. Each cargo was reported to contain about a million barrels of crude.

According to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, France, one of Nigeria’s biggest buyers, took an average of 110,000 barrels daily of Nigeria’s oil over the past year.

However, demand has shrivelled this month, with France’s overall crude imports dropping by half in March as the nationwide dispute over pension reforms escalated.

Bloomberg also reports that European plants are also buying less crude because of seasonal maintenance adding to the impact of the strikes.

“The Nigerian backlog is a combination of higher freight costs, lower tanker availability — specifically into Europe — as well as lower overall demand for West Africa light sweet as crude from other regions is deluging markets,” said Viktor Katona, a lead crude analyst at Kpler.

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Business

Uncertainties Might Persist Amid High Risks To Financial Stability – IMF

Published

6 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Editor

Amid the continued tension necessitated by the Russia-Ukraine war and the post-COVID-19 pandemic effect, the International Monetary Fund warned on Sunday that risks to financial stability have increased following the recent sector in the financial industry.

Speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said she expected 2023 to be another challenging year.

Her position is based on the rate of global growth slowing to below 3.0 per cent due to the war in Ukraine, monetary tightening and scarring from the pandemic.

She also stressed the need for vigilance despite the high risks.

She said, “Uncertainties are exceptionally high, with the outlook for the global economy likely to remain weak over the medium term. It is clear that risks to financial stability have increased.”

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Business

Stock Investors Record N13bn Loss In Seven Days Over Interest Rates Hike

Published

6 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Editor

At the end of last week’s trading activities in the Nigeria Stock Market, the market capitalisation declined by N13 billion following the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Rate hike to 18 per cent.

According to data gathered by DAILY POST, the All-Share Index closed 0.04 per cent lower at 54,892.53 compared to the 54,915.39 it commenced last week.

A review of last week’s trade showed that similarly, all other indices finished lower except for NGX Consumer Goods and NXG Growth, which appreciated by 1.11 per cent and 2.90 per cent, respectively, while the NGX ASeM, NGX Oil and Gas indices and NGX Sovereign Bond index closed flat.

The NGX ASI went up slightly on Wednesday, a day after the new MPR rate was announced, but it continued to dip till the close of trading on Friday.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria raised Monetary Policy Rates, MPR, to 18 per cent from 17.5 per cent last month.

Muda Yusuf, the director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, earlier disclosed to DAILY POST that interest rate hike would affect investors in Nigeria.

However, stock analysts are optimistic that the market will bounce back since the elections are over.

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