JUST IN: Nigeria’s Inflation Drops For 5th Consecutive Month

Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped for a fifth straight month in August 2021 to 17.01% from 17.38%. The continuous decline was blamed on rising food prices. This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its monthly report. The announcement comes ahead of Friday’s meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy committee which will decide on the benchmark lending rate. The latest figure is 0.37% points lower than what was recorded in the previous month. Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.02% in August 2021, this is 0.09% higher than the rate recorded in July 2021 (0.93%). The urban inflation rate increased by 17.59% (year-on-year) in August 2021 from 18.01% recorded in July 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 16.43% in August 2021 from 16.75 in July 2021. Nigeria’s inflation has been in double digits since 2016 but became worse with border closure, COVID-19 crisis, insecurity, and repeated devaluation of the naira. It reached its highest in years in March. “The rise in the food index was caused by an increase in prices of bread and cereals, milk, cheese and egg, oil and fats.” The report stated, “The consumer price index, which measures inflation increased by 17.01 percent (year-on-year) in August 2021.

Nigeria Targets $1 billion by 2025 Via Leather Production

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during the formal launch and sensitisation workshop on the National Leather and Leather Products Policy Implementation Plan in Abuja noted that Nigeria, being one of the highest producers of leather and finished leather products in Africa can achieve a projected revenue of $1 billion by 2025, which could help further develop the nation's economy by providing employment and improving FOREX earnings.

CBN Dispels Rumors Directing Banks To Convert Domiciliary Accounts Into Naira

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has outrightly denied claims that it directed banks to convert all customers’ domiciliary accounts meant for dollar and other hard currency transactions into naira accounts. The CBN Director, Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, in a statement on Saturday, noted that a fake circular with a fake CBN logo curiously dated “13 September 2021” (next Monday), and purportedly issued by its Trade and Exchange Department directed that all Deposit Money Banks, International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) and members of the public are to convert domiciliary account holdings into naira.

NCC Exceeds Its N36bn Projected revenue From Spectrum License Fees For 2021

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has exceeded its N36 billion projected revenue from spectrum license fees for 2021. This was disclosed on Sunday by the commission’s Executive Vice Chairman Prof Umar Garba Danbatta who said that it has recorded over N150 billion from this revenue source within the five months of the year. The figure represents over 400 percent increase in revenue budget performance in respect of spectrum fees generated by the Commission between January 1 and May 31, 2021, and the money made from spectrum sales reflects a significant contribution to the revenue drive of the Federal Government, Danbatta said in a statement.

Naira Closes At N411.6/$1 As USD Supply Surges

Naira has been reported to have gained against the US dollar to close at N411.6/$1, although, it depreciated significantly by 3.9% at the parallel market to close at N525/$1 and this was due to the ban on the sale of dollars to BDC operators in Nigeria by the Central Bank. N413/$1 was the all-time high recorded during intra-day trading, and N352.07/$1 was the all-time low during intra-day trading before finally settling at N411.6/$1.

$3m Bribery: Farouk Lawan Sentenced To 7 Years Imprisonment

A Federal High Court in Abuja has on Tuesday convicted and sentenced former Chairman of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on fuel subsidy, Farouk Lawan to seven years imprisonment. The presiding judge, Justice Angela Otaluka found the former lawmaker guilty of soliciting the sum of $3 million and collecting $500,000 bribe from the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, Chief Femi Otedola in a bid to remove the company’s name from the list of oil companies allegedly involved in fuel subsidy fraud in 2012.

CBN Bans Forex Sales To Bureau De Change Operators

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has on Tuesday announced the ban on the sales of forex to bureau de change operators in the country. Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor made the disclosure during the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja, saying the aim of selling forex to BDC operators for retail purposes has been defeated as the operators have become wholesale and illegal dealers.

China Goes Hard On Cryptocurrencies and Their Users

The People's Bank of China has urged institutions to promptly cut payment channels for cryptocurrency trading, urging them to crack down harder on cryptocurrency trading, also advises other financial institutions not to provide other crypto-related financial services. The People's Bank of China's meeting with institutions including Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank), China Construction Bank (CCB), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Postal Savings Bank of China and Alipay came after China's State Council vowed to crack down on bitcoin trading and mining.

CBN Set To Launch Digital Currency In October

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed it will launch the pilot scheme of its digital currency on October 1st, 2021. The resolution was made during a private webinar on Thursday in which CBN and its stakeholders outlined a digital currency initiative. Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele had earlier announced that the bank will be working on a central digital currency during the 306th Banker’s Committee meeting. At the end of the meeting CBN Director, IT Department, Mrs. Rakiya Mohammed, revealed that the bank had been conducting research in regards to central bank digital currencies since 2017 and may conduct a proof of concept before the end of this year. According to Mrs. Mohammed the project is named ‘GIANT’ and will use the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain. The Hyperledger Fabric is an open-source project that acts as a foundation for developing blockchain-based products, solutions, and applications using plug-and-play components that are aimed for use within private enterprises.

NiMET Issues Adverse Weather Alert To Airline Operators And Passengers

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has issued an adverse weather alert to airline operators and passengers warning that significant flight delays and cancellations may be experienced in the days ahead. NiMet also said flight turbulence could increase as a result of increasing thunderstorms, microbursts, heavy rains among other adverse weather conditions. The Director-General of NiMet, Prof Mansur Bako Matazu made this disclosure on Friday during a press briefing in Abuja on recent weather events.