CAPITALDIGEST, DAILY NEWS, 22ND AUGUST, 2022

MONDAY 15/8/2022-NIGERIA’S N9TN OIL REVENUE THREATENED, FG BLAMES THEFT Nigeria’s oil production slumped by 28 million barrels between January and July 2022, threatening the Federal Government’s N9.37tn oil and gas revenue target by the end of the year. The Federal Government, in the 2023-2035 Medium Term Expenditure Framework & Fiscal Strategy Paper recently presented by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, blamed oil production shut-ins due to pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and high petrol subsidy cost. Most industry experts who spoke with The PUNCH on Sunday also attributed the decline to oil theft, which appears to have defied solutions. After posting a high crude oil production figure of 1.399 million barrels per day in January 2022, Nigeria’s production crashed to as low as 1.084mbpd in July. By dropping from 1.399mbpd in January to 1.084mbpd in July, it means the country lost about 315,000 barrels of crude oil daily, amounting to 28.4 million barrels of oil during the six months interval. TUESDAY 16/8/2022-POWER INTERVENTION FUND JUMPS TO N2.9TRN The Federal Government’s intervention fund to the electricity distribution companies has risen to N2.9trn, from N2trn recorded as of May this year. This indicates a 45 per cent increase over the period. By estimation, the N2.9trn is the total funding extended to the sector since privatisation in 2013. The Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprise, Alex Okoh, in an interview, said there was an approval of a fresh 2.3 billion Euro loan for the transmission and distribution arms of the sector. Prior to the 2.3 billion Euros, the last one was the $500m by the World Bank to improve its electricity distribution sector in May. “There are a lot of interventions going in that regard. There is 2.3 billion Euros for the transmission and distribution so that we can wheel more power for consumers,” Okoh said during the interview. WEDNESDAY 17/8/2022-FG TO LAUNCH $750M WORLD BANK-BACKED PROGRAMME The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, on Tuesday, unveiled its plans to kickstart a $750m World Bank-funded programme in January next year. This was as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, said the kind of business environment Nigeria required for significant economic growth could only be achieved through hard work at the sub-national level. According to a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo made the assertion during a meeting of the PEBEC where he received briefing on the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms Program coordinated by the secretariat and the World Bank. The statement was entitled ‘Osinbajo to state govts: your hard work critical for business environment reforms to succeed.’ THURSDAY 18/8/2022-CBN REVERSES RATES ON INTERVENTION LOANS TO 9% The Central Bank of Nigeria has reversed its five per cent intervention loans granted before July 20, 2022 to cushion the effect of COVID-19 on the economy to nine per cent effective from September 1, 2022. It disclosed this in a circular to all banks and Other Financial Institutions titled, ‘Adjustment of interest rate on all Central Bank of Nigeria interventions’, which was signed by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Chibuzo Efobi, on Wednesday. The banking regulator maintained interest rates on intervention loans granted after July 20 at nine per cent. It stated in the circular that, “Further to our circular dated March 15, 2022 (Ref: FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/040) extending the period of interest reduction to all intervention facilities from nine per cent to five per cent per annum (as part of measures to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy), the Central Bank of Nigeria hereby reverts the interest rate on all its intervention facilities to nine per cent per annum. FRIDAY 19/8/2022- STOCK INVESTORS LOSE N158BN IN ONE WEEK Investors lost N158bn at the end of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited last week. The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 0.59 per cent to close the week at 49,370.62 and N26.629tn respectively. All other indices finished lower with the exception of The NGX Premium, NGX Banking, NGX-AFR Bank Value and NGX Industrial Goods Indices which appreciated by 0.12 per cent, 0.65 per cent, 0.07 and 0.28 per cent while, The NGX ASeM and Growth indices closed flat. According to the NGX, 21 equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than 33 equities in the previous week. Forty- one equities depreciated in price higher than 26 in the previous week, while 94 equities remained unchanged lower than 97 equities recorded in the previous week.