BUSINESS ROUNDUP: CBN forecasts contraction; Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate falls; See other stories that made our pick

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week -from the capital market, mainstream business activities while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• Buhari reconstitutes NNPC board
• Oil prices dwindle over slack U.S demand
• CBN forecasts contraction in Nigeria’s economy for Q2
• CBN cuts Monetary Policy Rate to 12.5%

Summary:

President Muhammadu Buhari has reconstituted the board of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) after the tenures of members appointed in 2016 expired. The president’s decision was contained in a statement released by Femi Adesina, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity in Abuja on Saturday.

The new board comprises Magnus Abe (South-South), Adamu Mahmood Attah (North Central), Tajudeen Umar (North East), Chief Pius Akinyelure (South West), Mohammed Lawal (North West) and Stephen Dike (South East), who all will hold their positions for three years. Read more

Oil prices dipped for the third straight day Friday, setting in motion its first weekly loss in two fortnights and a week, as U.S. stock statistics revealed a worrisomely low fuel demand in the world’s biggest economy and deteriorating U.S.-China relations heaped the pressure on global financial systems.

Brent crude futures depressed by 43 cents or 1.2% to $34.86 per barrel by 07:43 West African Time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), its U.S. counterpart benchmark, was 57 cents or 1.7% down, trading a $33.14 per barrel. Read more

Read also:

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has projected that Nigeria will turn in a negative Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of this year considering the scale of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy.

Godwin Emefiele, the CBN boss, gave the dim outlook in Abuja on Thursday while fielding questions from reporters, citing the considerable shutdown of the economy in April and May, and its partial shutdown in June as conditions that could trigger the regression. Read more

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Thursday afternoon reviewed the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) downward by 100 basis points downward to 12.5% from 13.5%, which had been retained two times this year, the last time being March.

According to Godwin Emefiele, the central bank’s chief, the CBN chose to adopt a lower MPR, which gauges the rate at which the apex bank lends to commercial banks and serves as the benchmark for other lending rates in the economy, as a monetary strategy aimed at reining in the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Naira exchanges for N460/dollar; Oil price falls further; See other stories that made our pick

On NSE ROUNDUP: Limited trading days weaken gains by 95%

Fewer trading sessions were conducted this week than the last due to a two-day break on Monday and Tuesday, observed in commemoration of the Ramadan festival.

This had implication for trade, which was comparatively low, and market capitalisation, which, despite returning roughly N33 billion week on week, advanced at a substantially lower pace than the week before, when over N694 billion increase was posted.

All the key market performance indicators closed higher. A positive market breadth was recorded this week as 34 gainers emerged against 21 losers. The All Share Index (ASI) and the Market Capitalisation both advanced by 0.25% to 25,267.82 basis points and N13.168 trillion respectively. Read more

Thanks for joining the roundup this week. See you next week for another serving of Business Roundup. Don’t forget, for the latest news and updates from around the globe, keep reading Ripples Nigeria.

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