The Naira on Monday remained stable, exchanging for N310 to the dollar at the parallel market. It previously exchanged between N305 and N307 to the dollar early last week.


However, the naira closed at N197 to the dollar at the official apex bank rate. Traders at the market were hopeful that the naira would appreciate as soon as the Central Bank of Nigeria resumed sale of forex to the commercial banks.

The Naira on Monday remained stable, exchanging for N310 to the dollar at the parallel market. It previously exchanged between N305 and N307 to the dollar early last week.


However, the naira closed at N197 to the dollar at the official apex bank rate. Traders at the market were hopeful that the naira would appreciate as soon as the Central Bank of Nigeria resumed sale of forex to the commercial banks.

Royal Dutch Shell has confirmed it is cutting 10,000 jobs amid its steepest fall in annual profits for 13 years.

It made $1.8bn (£1.23bn) for the fourth quarter of the year, compared with a $4.2bn profit for the same period the year before.


Full-year 2015 earnings were $3.8bn, compared with $19bn in 2014, the BBC reports.

The oil firm indicated it would report a massive drop in profits two weeks ago and said it would cut 10,000 jobs, partly thanks to its takeover of BG.

Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, said: “The completion of the BG transaction, which we are expecting in a matter of weeks, marks the start of a new chapter in Shell, rejuvenating the company and improving shareholder returns.

“We are making substantial changes in the company, as we refocus Shell, and respond to lower oil prices. As we have previously indicated, this will include a reduction of some 10,000 staff and direct contractor positions in 2015-16 across both companies.”

The Naira on Wednesday depreciated by 0.7 per cent at the parallel market, following the last minute payment of tuition fees abroad. The naira lost N2 to exchange at N307 to a dollar against N305 traded on Tuesday.


The Naira had relatively remained stable in the past weeks. However, the naira closed at N197 to a dollar at the CBN’s official rate. Traders at the market expressed optimism that the proposed intervention of the apex bank by selling foreign exchange to the commercial banks would shore up the naira.

Some parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that it was stressful sourcing dollars to pay school fees of their children abroad. They urged the Federal Government to ensure easy access to dollars for legitimate needs.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday warned Nigerians to brace for a longer period of low revenue from oil sources, which would necessitate hard and uncomfortable choices.

The committee, in a communique issued at the end of its first meeting for the 2016 fiscal period in Abuja, observed that while the period of low oil prices, which occurred in 2005, lasted for a maximum of eight months, the current situation was expected to continue over a longer period of time.

The CBN Governor. Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who read out the communique shortly after the meeting, said the development would necessitate huge sacrifices from Nigerians.


Crude oil prices had declined from a peak of $114 barrel in July 2014 to $30.25 per barrel on Tuesday.

The CBN governor said since oil prices had been on a steady decline, certain trade-offs would have to be envisaged and accommodated.

He said, “The committee observed that the last episode of low oil prices in 2005 lasted for a maximum period of eight months. However, the current episode of lower oil prices is projected to remain over a very long period.

“Consequently, it is imperative to brace for a longer period of low government revenues from oil sources, which would necessitate hard and uncomfortable choices as the economy transits to more sustainable sources of revenue, consistent with the economic realities and strategic objectives of the country. In the circumstance, certain trade-offs must be envisaged and duly accommodated.”

As a result of the drop in oil revenues, the governor said the need for consistently sound and coordinated macro economy policies had become inevitable.

In view of this, Emefiele said the central bank was currently refining the framework for foreign exchange management in order to ensure a more effective and liquid forex market.

He added, “In the medium term within which monetary policy is cast, the need to allow policy to produce the desired outcomes becomes a key consideration in the policy mix.

“Consequently, the bank is fine-tuning the framework for foreign exchange management with a view to ensuring a more effective and liquid foreign exchange market, taking into account Nigeria’s strategic development priorities, with the policies being designed within an environment of regularly ensuring consistency with monetary and fiscal policies.”

On the Monetary Policy Rate, the governor said the committee decided to unanimously retain it at the current 11 per cent.

The bank had earlier in November last year reduced the MPR from 13 per cent to 11 per cent.

The CBN governor said the committee also decided to retain the Cash Reserve Requirement at 20 per cent and the liquidity ratio at 30 per cent, with the asymmetric corridor at +200 basis points and -700 basis points.

He said the decision to retain the rates was taken in order to ensure that the objective of easing lending to the real sector of the economy was achieved.

Emefiele explained that while the central bank had last November taken steps to encourage Deposit Money Banks to lend to the real sector of the economy, the impact of that decision had yet to be felt.

He lamented that while the objective of stabilising the financial system in the aftermath of the Treasury Single Account withdrawals and JPMorgan’s delisting of Nigeria from its index had been largely achieved, the goal of increasing lending to key sectors of the economy had not been realised.

The governor said the CBN would continue to use moral suasion to encourage the DMBs to support financing for targeted lending to the real sector as well as agriculture, solid minerals and Small and Medium Enterprises sectors of the economy.

He said, “The committee acknowledged the continuous liquidity surfeit in the system stemming partly from the recent growth-stimulating monetary policy measures as well as the tendency of the banks to invest excess reserves in government securities rather than extend credit to the needed sectors of the economy.

“To this end, the committee once again urged the Deposit Money Banks to improve lending to the real sector as part of their patriotic obligations to the country, and enjoined the management of the central bank to continue to explore ways of incentivising lending to employment and growth-generating sectors, particularly the SMEs.”

When asked if the CBN would consider forcing the banks to lend to the real sector, Emefiele stated that inasmuch as it would prefer that the DMBs should increase lending to the real sector, it would be practically impossible to force them to do so due to the fact that the banks were established to make profit.

He said, “Unfortunately, the DMBs are in business to make money and we cannot regulate their interest rate. And so, it can be difficult to really force them to lend to a particular set of people. But what we can continue to do is to put in place policies that will encourage them to do so or we can continue to incentivise them by putting in place policies that will encourage them to do so.

“So, it is a free market and we cannot really compel them as it is expected. We will continue to try. This is why at the last meeting, we reduced the CRR from 25 per cent to 20 per cent. And we now insisted that liquidity that would be made available or that those banks could only enjoy the reduction if they introduce to the CBN projects that are targeted at the real sector such as manufacturing, agriculture and the SMEs.

“It is just two months since this policy (was introduced) and it is still early to assess the impact. However, we remain optimistic that the banks will heed this advice and lend to the real sector. Because this liquidity is just sitting at the CBN and until they decide to work with us on this, the funds will not be made available.”

When asked if the CBN would consider the devaluation of the naira in view of the increasing pressure on the currency, the governor said there were no immediate plans to do so.

He said the central bank was working on a number of scenarios under different crude oil prices, noting that discussions at management and monetary policy committee levels would still continue.

Emefiele said, “We don’t have any immediate plan to devalue the naira. However, we are already working on different scenarios; the models are being worked on. We have them and as much as possible, we will look at scenarios under different crude prices and we will continue to discuss at management and monetary policy committee levels.

“We will try as much as possible to continue to share our thoughts with the fiscal authorities with the view to harmonising our positions to ensure that notwithstanding the drop in crude prices, that we are able to continue to run government and do business.

“We are very conscious of this and we know that we are at an era where the drop in or low crude price will remain for a long time with us. It is not going to be like in 2008 or 2009 where it was just for about eight months. So far, we have seen this for 14 months now and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel.”

On the introduction of the N50 stamp duty charge, Emefiele explained that the decision was taken to support the government in its bid to generate more revenue due to the drop in oil prices, adding that the nation’s external reserves currently stood at about $28bn.

Bank customers are to pay a maintenance fee on current account transactions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced at the weekend. The new fee is a negotiable current account maintenance fee not exceeding N1 per mille (N1 per N1,000,000) may be charged in respect of all customer-induced debit transactions.

CBN’s Financial Policy and Regulation Department Director Kelvin Amugo, who announced the fee through a circular to banks, said that the CBN was not oblivious of the impact of declining crude oil prices, operation of Treasury Single Account, and some other market turbulence on the viability and stability of the banking system.



In a circular titled: “Introduction of Negotiable Current Account Maintenance Fee not Exceeding N1/mille”, Amugo explained that the new fee was introduced in the interest of stability of the banking system.

The fee came weeks after the regulator struck out Commission on Transaction (COT) fee, which contributed significantly to lenders’ profitability.

He said the Revised Gide to Bank Charges (RGBC), which came into effect on April 1, 2013 provides for a phased elimination of COT charges. Under the guidelines, a zero COT regime was to come into effect from this month.

“The CBN noted that while the gradual phase out was being observed, some banks continued to charge account maintenance fees in addition to the reduced COT rate, which in effect amounted to double coincidence of charges,” he said.

Amugo said the negotiable current account maintenance fee was in furtherance of the mandate to promote and safeguard a sound financial system. He reminded lenders that 2016 zero COT regime as jointly agreed during the 311th Bankers’ Committee meeting of February 12, 2013 had come into effect and must be complied with.

The CBN, last week, started the implementation of the N50 stamp duty payment on every N1,000 transaction. The CBN said the policy was in line with the provisions of its enabling laws. It pointed out that with immediate effect, all banks and other financial institutions shall start charging N50 per eligible transaction in accordance with the provisions of the Stamp Duties Act and the Federal Government Financial Regulations 2009.

The CBN stressed that all receipts given by any bank or other financial institutions in acknowledgment of services rendered in respect of electronic transfer and teller deposits from N1, 000 and above should be charged.

However, the bank pointed out that payments deposits or transfer by self to self whether inter or intra bank and any form of withdrawals/ transfer s from savings accounts should not be charged. The charges are only payable by receiving accounts.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian currency lost N2 to exchange at N297 to the dollar, from N295 it traded on Tuesday.

It, however, traded at N197 to the dollar at the official interbank window.

Traders at the market said that the demand for the greenback by importers had continued to fuel the depreciation of the Naira at the market.


Meanwhile, some stakeholders at the forex market have expressed divergent views on the impact of the recent forex policy of the apex bank on the fate of the Naira.

The Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), in a communiqué urged the CBN to reverse the ban of sale of forex to its members, adding that the ban would impact the value of the Naira negatively.

They called on the CBN to include them in taking decisions that would affect the foreign exchange market.

Professor Sherifadeen Tella of the Department of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun, said the new forex policy of the apex bank was in the right direction.

He noted that there was nowhere in the world that the CBN sold forex to BDCs, pointing out that BDCs in Nigeria were operating like the parallel market.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has blamed the country’s low revenue from non-oil export on stumpy loans to that sector.

Governor of the apex bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele made this known at the opening ceremony of a one-day conference organised by the Apex Bank in conjunction with the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM) on Non-Oil Export Simulation in Abuja yesterday.



Represented by the Director, Development Finance of the CBN, Dr Mudashiru Olaitan, Emefiele blamed the decline of non oil revenue on the low level of loans to exporters which invariably contributed to the decline in non oil export revenue receipts from $10.53billion in 2014 to $4.39billion in 2015.

“It has been observed that while credit to non oil export is declining and currently at an average of 0.6 percent of total domestic loans to the private sector in the past five years, the domestic credit to the economy has been on the rise, Emefiele stated.”

The CBN Governor further said that it had become more instructive for stakeholders to dialogue towards evolving responsive strategies that would expand resources for exports and its funding programmes on a complimentary basis.

He said “The aim of this one-day stakeholders conference is therefore to foster greater understanding of the issues constraining our non oil exports and its sustainability with a view to proffering practical solutions on short term and long term perspectives”

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of Nexim Bank, Mr Robert Orya said the seminar was underscored by the recurring problem of the volatility in the international oil market which has challenged the Nigerian economy over the years.

Orya lamented that the revenue profile has remained tilted towards Oil and Gas sector contribution of over 70 percent and over 90 percent of government and export earnings respectively.

This is as a result of the recent rebasing of Nigeria’s economy that revealed that production base had become much more diversified with the Service sectors accounting for about 52 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2014.

Orya noted that the current episode of the global oil price collapse is expected to be quite protracted and has manifested in significant revenue decline in Nigeria at all tiers of government with attendant macroeconomic and external sector challenges.

He however said, “The good news is that the current development has provided yet another opportunity for us to redouble our efforts towards developing other key sectors and enhancing the country’s non oil export revenues.”

According to him, “It is in the light of the foregoing that the CBN/NEXIM have decided to convene this stakeholders’ conference to elicit views and inputs towards reviewing the existing strategies and increasing the flow of funds to the non-oil export sector, in addition to addressing other key challenges impacting the sector”

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Mr. Olusegun Awolowo said that agricultural export has continued to play a predominant role in the Nigerian economy, accounting for the bulk of foreign exchange earnings from non-oil exports ($1.465bn or 53.99 percent).

Awolowo who delivered a paper on ‘Improving Market Access for Non Oil Commodities’ at the event noted that the Services Sector contributed about 35 percent of Nigeria’s GDP after rebasing of the economy in 2013, the disruption in the implementation of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) as a result of uncertainty in the utilization of the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCC) led to decrease in non-oil receipts.

He stressed that the Nigeria’s exports are still dominated by crude oil while pointing out that the country’s non-oil exports is dominated by Agricultural products, representing about 50 percent of non-oil exports in 2014 while solid Mineral is yet to assume a prime place.

The Naira remained stable at N295 per dollar in the parallel market, yesterday, as Bureau de Change, BDC, operators await the release of modalities on how to source dollars from autonomous sources.

The Naira had appreciated on Monday to N295 per dollar from N300 per dollar on Friday in the parallel market following expectations that the CBN will sell autonomous dollars sourced from oil firms to BDCs.

A survey of parallel market exchange rate in major cities revealed that while there were slight increases in demand for foreign exchange, the Naira remained firm at N295 per dollar.



The stability, according to Chief Executive Officer, H. J. Trust BDC, Mr. Harrison Owoh, was because BDC operators still expected that the CBN will open the window of autonomous dollars to the subsector.

However, a meeting between the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and the Executive Council of Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria, ABCON, scheduled for, yesterday, was yet to commence at press time.

The meeting, according to ABCON President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, was to discuss the modalities for BDCs to source autonomous dollars from oil firms through the assistance of the CBN.

Meanwhile, the CBN Governor met with the Senate, yesterday, to discuss the sharp decline of the Naira in the parallel market in recent times.