The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele last Tuesday announced the reduction of Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 12.5 percent to 11.5 percent while retaining the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of 27.5 percent.
According to the Monetary Policy Committee, the reduction of MPR was made to sustain economic recovery efforts as it would provide cheaper credit to improve aggregate demand, stimulate production, reduce unemployment, and support the recovery of output growth. It comes a week after the central bank warned that inflation could reach more than 14 percent by December end. Read more here.
Below is the Ventures Africa Weekly Economic Index for the week ending 25th of September 2020. This economic index gives you a glimpse into other recent activities in Nigeria’s economy as well as changes and prices that could affect the economy:
Nigerian Stock Exchange
Data released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange as of September 25, 2020, showed that the NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization both appreciated by 2.92 percent to close the week at 26,319.34 and ₦13.755 trillion respectively. All other indices finished higher with the exception of the NSE ASeM Index which closed flat.
Top price gainers and decliners in the week under review:
Top five price gainers
Nigerian Breweries Plc.
Cornerstone Insurance Plc.
Lafarge Africa Plc.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc.
Trans-Nationwide Express Plc.
Top five price decliners
AIICO Insurance Plc.
Red Star Express Plc.
Oando Plc.
N Nigeria Flour Mills Plc.
Champion Breweries Plc.
Note: The NSE last week released its monthly Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment Report for the month of August.
How did the Naira fare?
The Nigerian currency slid against the dollar at the close of last week, trading at ₦387 per dollar, a depreciation from the ₦385 a dollar recorded a week before. The exchange rate at the NAFEX window closed at ₦386/$1 during intraday trading on Friday while at the black market where forex is traded unofficially, the local unit saw out the week at ₦467/$1, according to data from Abokifx.
How did the price of oil fare?
Oil prices had rebounded above $40 on the back of inventory draws and hurricane outages but bearish sentiment returned to markets last week as a new wave of COVID-19 infections threatens to return European economies to lockdowns. International benchmark Brent Crude closed at $41.74 a barrel while the West Texas Intermediate saw out the week at $40.10 per barrel.
