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HARDSHIP: CBN Provides N100bn Fertilisers To Boost Food Production

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The Central Bank of Nigeria, on Wednesday, handed over N100bn worth of fertilisers to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to boost food production across the country.

CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, handed over the 2.15 million bags of fertilisers to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, at the headquarters of the FMAFS in Abuja.

In his address at the handing over ceremony, Cardoso said one of the primary mandates of CBN was to maintain price stability, stressing that the cost of food was a crucial component of inflation.

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This, according to the CBN boss, is because a substantial portion of household expenditure in Nigeria is allocated towards food and non-alcoholic beverages.

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This reinforces the critical need to address food inflation as a pivotal aspect of managing overall headline inflation rates,” Cardoso stated.

He explained that while the CBN had been implementing several measures to curb inflation in the short term, the inflationary pressures had remained predominantly driven by escalating food prices.

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He, however, pointed out that while transient inflationary pressures might persist, the government anticipates substantial alleviation by the third quarter of 2024.

“This is precisely why we convene today to strengthen our collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture with a shared objective of mitigating the surge in food prices.

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“In alignment with our strategic shift towards focusing on our fundamental mandate, the CBN has veered away from direct quasi-fiscal interventions, and transitioned towards leveraging conventional monetary policy tools for executing monetary policies.

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“In this light, we aim to extend our support and foster closer ties with ministries, departments and agencies that bear the mandate and expertise to undertake these critical initiatives,” Cardoso stated.

He further noted that “consequently, we aim to enhance our partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, thereby bolstering your endeavours to enhance food productivity and security, and ultimately, curbing food inflation and fortifying our pursuit of price stability.

“In pursuit of these goals, we are delighted to announce the allocation of 2.15 million bags of fertiliser valued at over N100bn, which we are humbly handing over to the Ministry of Agriculture.”

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Before Cardoso took over as CBN governor in 2023, the apex bank intervenes in the fertiliser market in Nigeria primarily by facilitating access to credit through programmes like the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme.

Through these programmes, the CBN encourages banks to lend to farmers at concessionary rates. This helps farmers to purchase fertilisers and other inputs.

The apex bank also supports farmers through indirect subsidy by making credit more affordable, as its interventions can lead to effectively lower fertiliser prices for farmers.

On his part, Kyari described the cost of fertiliser as the major input in any agricultural production, and lauded the apex bank for providing the commodity.

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Stock Market Review: FBN Holdings Leads 41 Others As Investors Gain N811bn

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FBN Holdings Plc has topped 41 other advanced equities to pull the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.(NGX) market indices up by 1.46 per cent, week-on-week, making investors gain N811 billion.

The market, having opened for four days in the week, following the May Day holiday, had FBN Holdings leading the gainers’ table by 32.68 per cent to close at N27 per share.

Sterling Financial Holdings followed by 27.75 per cent to close at N4.88, while UACN gained 24.60 per cent to close at N15.45 per share.

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Julius Berger added 23.76 to close at N72.40, while Flour Mills rose by 20.66 per cent to close at N36.80 per share.

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Conversely, Nascon Allied Industries Plc led the losers’ table by 17.03 per cent to close at N43.60, University Press trailed by 16.67 per cent to close N2.05 per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals shed 14.14 per cent to close at N1.70, Berger Paints Plc declined by 9.87 per cent to close at N13.70 and Vitafoam Nigeria lost 9.81 per cent to close at N17 per share.

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Meanwhile, 42 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 27 equities in the previous week.

Thirty-six equities depreciated in price, lower than 43 in the previous week, while 76 equities remained unchanged, lower than 84 recorded in the previous week.

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Consequently, the All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation appreciated by 1.46 per cent to close the week at 99,587.25 and N56.323 trillion, respectively, in contrast to 98,152.91 and N55.512 trillion posted last week.

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Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Oil and Gas and NGX Industrial Goods which depreciated by 0.26, 0.68 and 0.36 per cent, respectively, while NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.

Meanwhile, a total turnover of 1.941 billion shares worth N32.644 billion in 35,807 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.839 billion shares, valued at N34.258 billion, that exchanged hands last week in 37,528 deals.

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The financial services industry measured by volume led the activity chart with 1.496 billion shares valued at N22.453 billion traded in 19,225 deals, thus contributing 77.08 and 68.78 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

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The consumer goods industry followed with 144.722 million shares worth N5.063 billion in 4,966 deals.

In the third place was the conglomerates industry, with a turnover of 109.978 million shares worth N1.539 billion in 2,064 deals.

Trading in the top three equities, namely Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holdings Company Plc and Access Holdings Plc, measured by volume, accounted for 898.940 million shares worth N14.314 billion in 5,518 deals.

These contributed 46.31 and 43.85 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

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BREAKIN: NDIC Increases Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage

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The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on Thursday increased the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels for Deposit Money Banks from N500,000 to N5 million.

The Managing Director of NDIC, Bello Hassan, announced this in Abuja at a press conference, stating that it takes effect immediately.

He said, “For Deposit Money Banks, the increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, would provide full coverage of 98.98% of the total depositors compared with the current cover of 89.20%.

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“In terms of the value of deposit covered, the revised coverage would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 25.37% compared with the current cover of 6.31% of total value of deposits.

“The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N200,000 to N2,000,000, would provide full coverage of 99.27% of the total depositors compared with the current level of 98.76% and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 34.43% compared with 14.38% of total value of deposit, currently covered.

“The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage of 99.34% of the total depositors compared with the current 97.98% and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 21.04% compared with 10.77% of total value of deposit, currently covered.”

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Hassan also stated that raising the maximum deposit insurance coverage for primary mortgage banks from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage for 99.99% of total depositors and increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 43.10% of the total deposit value, up from the current 40.60% cover.

The Corporation has also raised the maximum pass-through deposit insurance coverage for subscribers of Mobile Money Operators from N500,000 to N5,000,000 per subscriber.

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Dangote Speaks On Devaluation Of Naira

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Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote has said that the devaluation of Naira created the biggest mess for the company in 2023.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote said this affected lots of companies in the country.

He said: “We are doing whatever it takes to make sure that at the end of the day, we will be paying dividends because if you look at our dividends last year, it was almost 50 percent more so we will try and get out of the mess.

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“The biggest mess created was actually the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400. You can see almost 97 percent of the companies, especially in food and beverages businesses, none of them will pay dividends this year for sure but, we will try and get out of it as soon as possible.

“We want to see that at the end of the day, no matter how small, we will be able to pay some dividends, especially if there is a rebound of the naira.”

 

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