Business
Forex: CBN Creates Forex Window For Investors, Exporters
Two weeks after opening a special foreign exchange (Forex) window for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, established a Forex widow for investors and exporters.
The ýBank’s Director in charge of Financial Markets, Dr Alvan Ikoku,in a circular, said the purpose of the window was to boost liquidity in the forex market and ensure timely execution and settlement of eligible transactions.
Ikoku listed eligible transactions under the new window to include invisible transactions such as loan repayments, loan interest payments, Dividends, Income Remittances, Capital Repatriation, Management Service Fees and Consultancy fees.
Also on the eligible list are Software subscription fees, Technology Transfer Agreements, Personal Home Remittances and other eligible transactions including ‘miscellaneous Payments’ as detailed under Memorandum 15 of the CBN Foreign Exchange Manual.
Ikoku said the invisible transactions under this window excluded international airlines ticket sales’ remittances.
He said that the window covered Bills for Collection and any other trade-related payment obligations, which are at the instance of the customer.
Ikoku further clarified that the permitted invisible transactions and Bills for Collection were eligible to purchase foreign currency sourced from the CBN Forex window limited to Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) Wholesale, that is Spot and Forwards sales.
“international airlines ticket sales’ remittances shall only be eligible to access the CBN FX window (SMIS-Retail and Wholesale)spot and forwards.
“The supply of foreign currency to the window shall be through portfolio investors, exporters, authorised dealers and other parties with foreign currency to exchange to Naira.
“The CBN shall also be a market participant at the window to promote liquidity and professional market conduct,” he said. ý
The CBN said participants at the new window would trade via telephone until appreciable progress is made with the FX trading systems on-boarding process, which is the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ) Thomson Reuters FX Trading & Auction Systems.
Ikoku advised authorised dealers to promote market transparency by encouraging their corporate clients to ensure the activities of the window are operated on the forex trading systems.ý
As part of the operational requirements of the window, Ikoku said the exchange rates of the transactions in the window shall be as agreed between authorised dealers and their counterparties.
He also said that the CBN reserved the right to intervene as a buyer or seller, as it deems fit, in the window, adding that information on transactions between authorised dealers would be reported to the CBN on a daily basis.
It will be recalled that the CBN had injected over 380 million dollars into several segment of the foreign exchange market this week alone with hope of improving FX liquidity in the market and firm up the value of the Naira.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
-
Politics3 days ago
LP Petitions SGF Over Alleged Office Vandalism By NLC
-
News3 days ago
Ban On Foreign Trips’ll Save Nigeria N5bn Quarterly -Tinubu
-
Sports1 day ago
Corruption: China Jails FA President For Life
-
Politics1 day ago
EFCC’s Eyes On You, Gov Alia Warns LG CTC Chairmen
-
Oil & Energy3 days ago
Innovation, Key To Sustainable Energy Dev – Stakeholder
-
Sports3 days ago
NWFL:Heartland Queens’ Winger Sure Of Victory Against Abia Angels
-
Breaking News3 days ago
RSG Faults Assembly On Assembly Service Commission Law
-
News1 day ago
NSCDC Uncovers Illegal Refineries In Rivers Forest