CAPITALFIELD, DAILY NEWS, 27, SEPTEMBER 2021.

MONDAY 20/9/2021 – NIGERIANS SPENT N2.33TN ON PETROL IN 13 MONTHS – NNPC The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Monday said that the total revenue generated from the sale of petroleum products for the period of May 2020 to May 2021 stood at N2.35tn. Out of this amount, the corporation disclosed, Premium Motor Spirit contributed about 99.61 per cent of the total sales with a value of N2.34tn. A statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Garba-Deen Muhammad, said the figures were contained in the May 2021 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report. The statement was titled, “NNPC records crude oil, gas sales of $219.75m in May …posts N295.72bn from sale of petroleum products” It read in part, “Total revenues generated from the sale of petroleum products for the period of May 2020 to May 2021 stood at N2.345tn where Premium Motor Spirit contributed about 99.61 per cent of the total sales with a value of N2.336tn. “In terms of volume, the figure translates to a total of 2.241 billion litres of white products sold and distributed by PPMC in the month of May 2021 compared with 1.673billion litres in the month of April 2021.” Total sales of petroleum products for the period May 2020 to May 2021 stood at 18.65 billion litres and PMS accounted for 99.69 per cent of total volume. The corporation also recorded a total crude oil and gas export sales of $219.75m in May this year. The $219.75m represents an increase in sales of 180.29 per cent when compared to the previous month of April this year. The report stated that crude oil export sales contributed $181.19m (82.45 per cent) of the dollar transactions compared with $4.22m contribution in the previous month, while the export gas sales component stood at $38.56m in May 2021.   TUESDAY 21/9/2021 – IT’S COMPULSORY FOR NIGERIANS TO ACCEPT E-NAIRA, SAYS CBN The Central Bank of Nigeria says the e-naira which is set to be launched on October 1 is a legal tender equal to the value of the naira and thus must be accepted as a form of payment by all merchants and business outlets. The CBN Director, Payment System Management, Mr. Musa Jimoh, said this during an interview on the ‘Business Morning’ programme on Channels Television on Monday. Jimoh said, “Today, anywhere you present naira to pay, compulsorily it must be accepted because that is our fiat currency. So, the same way naira is accepted that you can’t reject it, is the same way e-naira must be accepted. Anywhere in this country where e-naira is presented, it must be accepted. So, merchants must accept e-naira as a means of payment.” He advised Nigerians to open e-naira wallets which could be downloaded on their phones from October 1, adding that CBN bears all liabilities. “The liability of the e-naira money is directly on CBN which is similar to the cash you hold. The liability of the cash you hold today rests with the CBN. So, it gives Nigerians the opportunity to bank with CBN,” Jimoh said. On whether Nigeria was ripe for the e-naira due to the technological challenges in the country, Jimoh said he didn’t expect it to be a major problem.   WEDNESDAY 22/9/2021 – NIGERIA BORROWS FRESH $4BN THROUGH EUROBONDS Nigeria has raised another $4bn through Eurobonds. The Debt Management Office disclosed this in a statement on its website on Tuesday titled ‘Nigeria raises $4bn through Eurobonds’. This would raise Nigeria’s Eurobond debt from $10.37bn as of the end of March according to figures obtained from DMO’s external debt stock figure to $14.37bn. The DMO said in the statement, “After an intensive two days of virtual meetings with investors across the globe, Nigeria has raised the sum of $4bn through Eurobonds. “The order book peaked at $12.2bn which enabled the Federal Government of Nigeria to raise $1bn more than the $3bn it initially announced. “This exceptional performance has been described as ‘one of the biggest financial trades to come out of Africa in 2021 and an ‘excellent outcome’. Bids for the Eurobonds were received from investors in Europe and America as well as Asia. “There was also good participation by local investors. The size of the order book and the quality of investors demonstrated confidence in Nigeria.” It added that the Eurobonds were issued in three tranches which were seven-year $1.25bn at 6.125 per cent P.A; 12-year $1.5bn at 7.375 per cent P.A; and 30-year $1.25bn at 8.25 per cent P.A. The DMO added, “The long tenors of the Eurobonds and the spread across different maturities are well aligned with Nigeria’s Debt Management Strategy, 2020-2023.   THURSDAY 23/9/2021 – STOCK MARKET DOWN BY N11BN ON LOSES IN BANKING, CONSUMER GOOD SHARES Trading activities on the stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday closed on a negative note, dropping by N11 billion to take losses to the third consecutive day. The negative sentiment was driven by investors’ profit-taking sentiments in the banking and consumer goods indices on NGX. In summary, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) shed 21.16 basis points, representing a decrease of 0.05 per cent, to close at 38,852.69 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value lost N11 billion to close at N20.243 trillion. Sector performances were mixed today with the Banking (-0.83 per cent) and Consumer Goods (-0.02 per cent) sectors closing red, while Oil & Gas (+0.50 per cent) and Industrial (+0.01%) sectors closed green. The market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; United Capital, Vitafoam Nigeria, Access Bank, Cutix and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO). Furthermore, the market breadth closed negative, recording 17 losers as against 13 gainers. Transcorp Hotel recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent, to close at N4.95, per share. Pharma Deko followed with a gain 9.88 per cent to close at N1.78, while Conoil appreciated by 9.84 per cent to close at N24.55, per share.   FRIDAY 24/9/2021 – NAIRA SLIDES AMIDST CBN’S ASSURANCE OF INCREASING FOREX SUPPLY The naira slide to N575 on Thursday despite assurances by the Central Bank of Nigeria that there is sufficient foreign exchange to meet the legitimate needs of Nigerians. The naira had maintained a downward trend, falling to 570/$ on Friday from N490/$ before the CBN stopped forex sale to the Bureau De Change operators in July. As part of efforts to solve naira crisis, the CBN on Friday vowed to clampdown on Abokifx, an online forex publication. This led AbokiFX to suspend publication of its forex rates of naira to other currencies. Despite the suspension, the naira fell to N580 on Monday, and traded around 575 to the dollar as of Thursday at the parallel market. At the Investor & Exporter forex window on Thursday, the naira hit a high of N415.20 to close at N413.63. CBN spokesman, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, had said the apex bank remained committed to meeting the foreign exchange request of travellers with legitimate needs as they related to travel allowances, payment of tuition and medical fees among other invisibles. “There is enough supply of foreign exchange to the banks to meet legitimate demands for foreign exchange,” he said. Nwanisobi said that no customer requiring foreign exchange for genuine transactions would be turned back by their banks. He urged the banking public to insist on their rights to be attended to as long as they possessed all the requisite documents to validate their requests.