For manufacturers who used to be able to receive money from the official market to import their raw materials and packaging products, this is a crushing issue.

The naira reached a high of N444 in the Investor & Exporter FX market before closing at N430 to the dollar. On Wednesday, the I&E market saw a total turnover of $126.69m.

The President, of the Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, according to Punch on Wednesday evening said that “the rate closed at N710/$.”

See Why Dollar Has Different Rates In Nigeria [VIDEO]

But why does the dollar have different rates in Nigeria? See reasons.

“Economic and financial expert, Mr. Tunde Olatuni explains why we have different dollar rates in Nigeria.

“One of the major challenges in the Nigeria Foreign exchange is the fact that over the years it’s been very difficult to the convergence of our exchange rate so you have the black market rate different from that of the official window.

“Because the official window has not been able to adequately take care of the demands of Nigerians in terms of foreign exchange. A whole lot of demand has now shifted to the black market.

“Despite the fact that the official window gives you the dollar at a cheaper rate, we cannot take care of the needs of the people so a whole lot of Nigerians result to the black market to make their demands.

“This is a function of the fact that the inflow of dollars into the economy has dropped drastically and this is a reflection of the fact that Nigeria is not a producing nation in terms of what we need to put in the international market to help foreign exchange.

“At the same time, the naira is not also in high demand because we are not producing anything that is enough to make people want to demand our food and currency.

“When you look at the demand and supply end of it, which is a major factor in determining foreign exchange, we have a deficiency in supply and then our demand is rising on a daily base as a country.

“So when you have this gap, it explains why you have that drop in your foreign exchange.” He added.

See the video below for more!

The post See Why Dollar Has Different Rates In Nigeria [VIDEO] appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

However, the exchange rate at the parallel market remained stable at N590 to a dollar.

On the other hand, naira fell significantly against the US dollar at the peer-to-peer market, trading at N600.5/$1 compared to N594/$1 recorded as of the same time the previous day.

Analysts earlier predicted that a stronger dollar may mean unpalatable news for the naira due to the US Federal Reserves’ aggressive stance and rebounding of the dollar

See video for more!

The post Nigerians Lament As Dollar Hit N600 At Parallel Market appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

The post N4.74 trillion spent on fuel imports in 2016 – Kachikwu appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

The outcome of the snap poll, called by Prime Minister Theresa May to try to bolster her parliamentary majority, was a blow to investors who had already weathered major risk events in the United States and Europe the previous day.

But the wider reaction suggested a more limited impact than after last year’s Brexit vote, which triggered a prolonged decline in the pound and unsettled other assets.

“The uncertainty is bad news for sterling,” said Bank of America, Merrill Lynch European equity & cross-asset strategist James Barty. “I think for the global market it doesn’t matter. Unlike Brexit, which at the time had a spillover into other markets, this is a very UK-specific thing.”

Bets that another drop in sterling would flatter international firms’ profits pushed London’s FTSE .FTSE up around 0.6 percent, while the Frankfurt .GDAXI, Paris .FCHI and Milan .FTMIB bourses made almost as much.

With the majority of seats counted, May’s Conservatives had no way to win an outright majority in parliament.

That raised fears the political turmoil could delay and confound talks on leaving the European Union, which are due to start in less than two weeks, and the pound shed over 2 percent against the dollar.

It dropped as low as $1.2636 GBP= and 88.6 pence per euro EURGBP= — two- and six-month troughs — in early London trading, before clawing back some ground. Yields on 10-year gilts GB10YT=TWEB fell 3 basis points to 1.00 percent.

The damage was limited elsewhere, with E-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 edging up 0.1 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei .N225 added 0.5 percent and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was closing all but flat.

The rot for sterling had started when an exit poll showed the ruling Conservatives could fail to win a clear majority when markets had expected a handy victory.

Ahead of the final results, forecasts showed the party would hold a reduced 319 seats in the 650-member parliament, following a big swing to the left-leaning opposition Labour Party. For the latest updates, click

Betting agencies were already taking wagers on whether May would still have her job by the end of the day.

“At this stage, there is no obvious way a formal, stable coalition government can be constructed, and therefore there is a high likelihood of a potentially prolonged period of uncertainty over who will be prime minister,” said John Wraith, a strategist at UBS.

But he cautioned bears against chasing the pound much lower.

“Today’s result will in part be seen as a vote against a definitive break from the EU, and the market may soon begin to reassess the probability of a so-called ‘hard Brexit’.”

NO SMOKING GUN

There was much less drama elsewhere, as the Japanese yen gave up early gains and eased to 110.38 per dollar JPY=. The euro was also down 0.35 percent against the U.S. dollar at $1.1173 EUR=.

The single currency had slipped overnight when the European Central Bank cut forecasts for inflation and said it had not discussed scaling back its massive bond-buying campaign, sending bond yields to multi-month lows.

Italian bond yields fell again on Friday as the head of the country’s ruling Democratic Party, Matteo Renzi, said he was pessimistic over the chances of reaching a new cross-party pact on a reform of the electoral law.

Political analysts see that as reducing the chances of a snap election in the coming months.

Overnight, Wall Street had also seemingly judged that the testimony of former FBI director James Comey was not life-threatening for the administration of President Donald Trump.

Comey accused Trump of firing him to try to undermine the investigation into possible collusion by his campaign team with Russia’s alleged efforts to influence the 2016 election.

“I think the market is taking less of an alarmist review of this situation because there is no smoking gun here,” said Jefferies & Co money market economist Thomas Simons.

“So it’s not particularly impactful for thinking about … Trump’s economic agenda to go through.”

The Dow .DJI rose 0.04 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.03 percent and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC 0.39 percent. [.N]

In commodity markets, spot gold XAU= was 0.3 percent lower at $1,274.45 an ounce.

Oil prices remained subdued, with Brent having settled at its lowest since Nov. 29, the eve of an OPEC production cut deal.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 edged up 10 cents to $45.76 a barrel, with Brent crude LCOc1 at $47.95. [O/R] Both benchmarks are down roughly 4 percent in what will be a third consecutive weekly fall.

The post Dollar cleans up as UK election shock stuns sterling appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

The overnight lending rate increased to 14.5 per cent on Friday, up from 12 per cent at the start of the week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had debited bank accounts for cash payments for dollars and Treasury bills.

The apex bank sold around $250m forwards at a special auction and an undisclosed amount at the spot market in its bid to improve dollar liquidity in support of the naira.

The sales drew liquidity out in the money market and pushed up interest rate.

The post Dollar purchases raise interbank rate to 14.5% appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

According to the marketers, the exchange rate which went to as high as N400 to $1 last week, is seriously affecting them as they cannot continue to import fuel at such rate and sell at the Federal government stipulated price of N145 per liter.

Many of them say if the N400 to $1 persists, they will be forced to increase the pump price.

The post Fuel scarcity looms as dollar appreciates against the naira appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

At the Bureau De Change segment of the market, the currency exchanged at N378 for the dollar, N490 for the Pound and N413 against the Euro.

The post Naira Falls Again, Now N380 To Dollar appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

( dollar ) foreign exchange policy driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) opening today, .

The interbank market, which opens by 9.00am and closes at 2.00pm, will see the naira-dollar exchange rate in a volatile state. The local currency is likely to exchange around N340/N350 against the greenback, it was predicted yesterday.

The CBN, three weeks after the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) consensus decision to adopt a flexible exchange rate system, announced the re-introduction of a market-driven two-way quote single Interbank Foreign Exchange (FX) Market last Wednesday. The policy shift is against the CBN’s long-held stance of maintaining naira-dollar peg at N197/$1.

Head of Currencies Market at Ecobank Nigeria, Olakunle Ezun, predicted a volatile trading session for today. He said: “The first few hours of trading will be volatile, with the naira exchanging between N340 and N350 to dollar. But as the market begins to settle around noon, I see the naira closing between N300 and N320 against the dollar”.

Speaking with The Nation yesterday, he said pressure from backlog of unmet demands from manufacturers

The post Naira tumbles, to hit N350/Dollar today appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

It would be recalled that only on Thursday it was at 341, but weakened further to 360 by yesterday, Friday. The rise has been linked to the demand for dollars by fuel importers who are jostling to import the products amidst its increase.

The post Naira Falls To 360 As Demand For Dollar Rises appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

 

 

Dailymail reports that the, Self-proclaimed ‘People’s President’ Muhammadu Buhari began a war on corruption after taking power last year, but critics allege it is a political witch-hunt.

 

The Government is giving nearly £250million in the coming year to oil-rich Nigeria, whose president sends his daughter to a £26,000-a-year English school.

In April the opposition PDP party unearthed a ticket stub showing Hanan, 16, had flown first-class from London to Nigeria, despite her father’s ban on officials using premium travel. 

 

And a Nigerian newspaper claimed Mr Buhari has spent £150,000 on educating his daughter Zahra, a Surrey University student.

The president is reported to have failed to give a full account of his worth, but even his partial admission included more than £1million in the bank, five houses and two plots of land.

Supporters say 49 arrests of members of the previous regime show the anti-corruption war is genuine, but opponents say it is politically driven.

Nigeria has the highest-paid government officials in the world but is one of the largest beneficiaries of UK foreign aid.

The president of its senate, Bukola Saraki, is due to face trial on corruption charges after it emerged he has a £6million London property in his wife’s name.

The Nigerian Embassy did not comment.

The post Britain to give £250m to Nigerian Government appeared first on PURE ENTERTAINMENT.