Trades
Yobe governor: No plan to retrench workers
Gov. Mai Mala-Buni of Yobe on Tuesday said his administration has no plan to retrench civil servants in spite of the state’s meagre resources. Mala-Buni gave the assurance in Damaturu on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed permanent secretaries and board members. He said he would continue to attract investments to Yobe from both state and non-state actors in order to meet the financial obligations of the state. “People accuse me of frequenting Abuja; the truth is, if I remain in Damaturu, we cannot pay even our salary bills. “And that means we will have to join the league of states that are retrenching workers; we don’t have such plan. “You are aware of the projects we started, including the four modern markets we are building, the ongoing 3,600 houses, the over 87...
2,700 Akwa Ibom women benefit from federal government’s special grant
The minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has advised Nigerian women not to regard the N20, 000 special grant given to the rural woman by the federal government as the fabled national cake. She has rather charged the beneficiaries to judiciously use the grant to improve their living standard by utilizing it as seed capital do boost their trades and businesses for greater income. Speaking through Bashir Nura Alkali, the permanent secretary of the ministry, at the flag off of the Grant for Rural Women Project and the symbolic disbursement of the grant to 2700 women of Akwa Ibom state, in Uyo, on Thursday, Farouq explained that the Grant for Rural Women Programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of Presid...
Economist: Official exchange rate may depreciate to N420 to the dollar
The managing director of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, has projected that the naira will depreciate to N420 against the dollar on the official window by the end of 2021. Rewane was speaking at a virtual event tagged ‘Vantage Forum 2021’, organised by The Elevation Church (TEC) on Saturday. The economist also projected that the naira will exchange at N470 to the dollar at the parallel market. At present, the naira trades at N480/$ at the parallel market and N380 at the official rate operated by the Central Bank of Nigeria. This, he said, is based on a worst-case scenario where Nigeria produces 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) with an inflation rate of 16.15 percent in the full year. “In the worst-case scenario, it goes the other way, in all cases you find that the average...
Nigerian government borrows over N2 trillion from bond investors in 2020
Leveraging on excess liquidity that persisted in the banking system and the near zero yields on treasury bills (TBs), the Federal Government, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), raised N2.1 trillion from investors in its monthly bond issuance programme in 2020. This represents 33 percent, year-on-year, (y/y) increase when compared with the N1.58 trillion raised by the DMO in 2019. The N2.1 trillion raised in 2020 also represents 31 percent more than the N1.6 trillion funding target for the DMO under the Revised 2020 Budget. Meanwhile, the monthly bond auctions conducted by the DMO in 2020 recorded 275 percent oversubscription, reflecting scramble for the high yielding FGN bonds by investors. Newsmen report on monthly bond auction results show that the DMO offered N1.825 trillion wort...
President Buhari urges Nigerians to pray for peace, unity
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians to continue to pray for peace, unity and stability in the country. The president made the call in an address at the 70th anniversary of the Qaddriyya on Saturday in Kano. Buhari, represented by Alhaji Sabo Nanono, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the call was imperative to foster unity and address security challenges in the country. He enjoined the youth to avail themselves of the opportunities of agriculture and economic empowerment programmes initiated by the Federal Government to learn trades, become self reliant and engage in productive activities. Buhari expressed delight over the conduct of the event and commended the Leader of the Qadiriyya, Sheikh Qaribullah Nasiru-Kabara for his support and constant prayers for the ...
