BUSINESS ROUNDUP: NNPC secures $1bn funding for upstream operations; PenCom moves to sanction PFAs; 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 to the mainstream business activities.

Here are the Headlines:

• CBN sets N10bn maximum loan limit for gas intervention fund
• Oil prices may drop over low demand
• PenCom moves to sanction PFAs denying retirees annuity
• NNPC secures $1bn funding for upstream operations

Summary:

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has fixed the upper limit an obligor can access under its N250 billion gas intervention fund at N10 billion.

It made the revelation in a guideline titled: ‘Framework for the Implementation of Intervention Facility for the National Gas Expansion Programme,’ issued on Friday. Read more

Oil held above $44 per barrel on Friday and was on track for its biggest weekly fall since June as low demand figures complicated fears over a sluggish recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

A United States government report revealed local gasoline demand dropped in the latest week. Middle distillates inventories at Asia’s oil hub Singapore have climbed beyond a nine-year high, official statistics showed. Read more

Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) that refuse to approve annuity for retirees who collect pensions through them under the Programmed Withdrawal will henceforth be penalised, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said.

Annuity refers to monthly pension payments under the Contributory Pension Scheme by life insurance companies, while Programmed Withdrawal (PW) is the monthly pensions paid by PFAs. Read more

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Thursday night declared it had secured a prepayment funding of around $1 billion to boost the upstream operations of its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Naira falls 1.3% against dollar; Buhari orders end to estimated billing; See other stories that made our pick

NNPC said the crude oil prepayment had helped it meet its NPDC’s tax payment obligation estimated at about $700 million to the Nigerian government while the balance had been committed to finance NPDC’s capital and operating expenditure. Read more

On NSE ROUNDUP: Week-long bull run lifts market by N154bn

The equity section of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded gains Monday through Friday as liquidity improved dramatically, backed by over 106% increase in volume of trade.

The total market value this week expanded by N154.433 billion.

All the key market performance indicators closed higher. A positive market breadth was recorded as 41 gainers emerged against 19 losers. The All Share Index (ASI) and the Market Capitalisation simultaneously advanced by 1.17% to 25,605.64 basis points and N13.358 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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