Don't panic, Nigerian governor says, as bank shake-out looms

Emefiele, CBN governor Breaking the central bankers' taboo on use of the 'p-word', Nigeria's Godwin Emefiele is urging people not to panic about the banking system, saying he is on top of any trouble resulting from the worst crisis in Africa's biggest economy for decades. For now, depositors and investors are generally giving the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor the benefit of the doubt after he shored up mid-tier lender Skye Bank this month with...

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Nigerian naira weakens to 330.50 in off-market trades

Nigeria's naira fell to an all-time low on Thursday, crossing 300 to the dollar for the first time on the interbank market after the central bank last month lifted its peg on the currency to allow it to trade freely. The naira fell 5.4 percent against the greenback to 309 at 1224 GMT on dollar supply shortages. It later recovered to close at 292.40 on the interbank market on thin trades. The interbank market traded a total of $7.27 million. Traders...

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Nigeria to start international borrowing in Q3 - finance minister

Nigeria will start borrowing abroad in the third quarter, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Thursday, in the wake of the central bank's decision to float the naira last month. The government has said it plans to borrow up to $10 billion, with about half of that coming from foreign sources, to help make up a budget shortfall exacerbated by a slump in oil prices. Adeosun The oil producer had initially planned to hold Eurobonds road shows in...

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Nigeria central bank grants loan to Skye Bank after capital problems

Nigeria's central bank has provided a short-term loan to Skye Bank to help to stabilise its operations after it replaced top executives for failing to meet minimum capital requirements. The central bank has been seeking to contain growing problems at Nigerian banks where profits have been falling and bad loans rising due to a heavy exposure to the oil industry and a weak economy due to low oil prices. Emefiele, CBN Gov "We provide a short-term...

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No need to panic about Nigeria sliding into recession, finance minister says

Nigeria will face only a short recession if its economy shrinks again in the second quarter, because removing fuel subsidies and implementing policies to reduce dependency on oil will pay off, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Thursday. Adeosun, Finmin On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund said Nigeria's economy is likely to contract by 1.8 percent this year because of a slump in oil prices and a shortage of hard currency.Gross domestic...

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Nigeria interbank rate rise on bond purchases

Nigeria's interbank overnight lending rate rose for the second consecutive week on Friday to an average of 15 percent from 10 percent a week ago, as banks scrambled for liquidity to settle bond purchases.Nigeria sold 120 billion naira worth of local currency-denominated bonds with mixed yields compared with the returns from previous issues last month while payment for the debt sale was due on Friday. Total banking system liquidity opened at 137.30 billion naira on Friday, but payment for bonds significantly reduced the level of cash in the market,...

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ExxonMobil declares force majeure on Nigeria's Qua Iboe crude oil -spokesman

ExxonMobil subsidiary Mobil Producing Nigeria has declared force majeure on exports of Nigeria's Qua Iboe crude oil, the country's largest export stream, a spokesman said on Friday.The declaration came after the company observed a "system anomaly" during a routine check of its loading facility on July 14. "We are working to ensure loading activities at the facility return to normal. We cannot speculate on any timeline for repairs," the spokesman said. "Qua Iboe Terminal is operating and production activities continue."Nigeria has struggled to maintain...

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African Union to launch continental passport to ease free moment, trade

The African Union passport expected to be officially launched during the 27th African Union Summit is considered a prodigious triumph for the continent and it will ease free movement of people, spur economic growth and development as well as promote intra-African trade, a senior official has revealed.Regional trade integration has long been a strategic objective for Africa yet despite some success in eliminating non-tariff barriers within regional...

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Nigeria sells 120 bln naira in bonds with mixed yields - debt office

Nigeria sold 120 billion naira worth of local currency-denominated bonds with mixed yields compared with the returns from previous issues last month, results released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed on Friday.The debt office sold 55 billion naira of 2036 paper at 14.98 percent, the same yield as on similar debt issued at the last auction on June 15.It sold 35 billion naira worth of 2026 debt at 14.90 percent, 50 basis points higher than the yield at the previous auction. The debt office also sold 30 billion naira at par in the 2021 paper...

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Nigeria debt auction delayed by system glitch

Nigeria's plans to raise 120 billion naira ($425 million) in bond maturing 2021, 2026 and 2036 on Wednesday was stalled by system glitch at the central bank, but the auction is currently ongoing, an official of the Debt Management Office said.In a public notice on Monday, the debt office said it will raise 40 billion naira at par in 2021 bond, while also raising 40 billion naira apiece in the 2026 and 2036 maturing bonds at the auction."There was a system glitch at the central bank, which stalled the issuance on Wednesday, but the process is presently...

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Bank of England Holds Benchmark Rate at Historic Low in Wake of Brexit Vote

The Bank of England has held its benchmark interest rate at 0.50% and indicated that it may loosen monetary policy in August after voting to maintain the current asset purchase scheme at £375 billion ($500 billion).Minutes from the central bank's monetary policy meeting, which was held on Wednesday, showed that members voted by a majority of 8-1 to maintain Bank Rate at 0.5%, with one member voting for a cut in Bank Rate to 0.25%.The bank said that committee members had made initial assessments of the impact of Britain's vote to leave the European...

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McDonald's Blocks Porn Viewing at Its Restaurants

Presumably free public internet access is just that. Sign into Wi-Fi, surf as you would like. McDonald's Corp. has put an important limitation on that freedom. People who use its free Wi-Fi will no longer be able to use it to watch pornography. McDonald Enough Is Enough (EIE), an internet safety nonprofit, announced a program that in part already has been implemented:EIE launched its "National Porn Free Wi-Fi" campaign" in the fall of 2014, with...

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Nearly 6 Million Americans Crash Into Other People's Cars On Purpose - 24/7 Wall St

In a ground breaking piece of research, the AAA found that road rage has reached epidemic proportions. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that close to 8 out of 10 Americans expressed some form of road rage in the last year. Of these, 3%, which represents 5.7 million drivers "Bumping or ramming another vehicle on purpose" Road range According to a press release, the foundation said :Nearly 80 percent of drivers expressed significant anger,...

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IFC raising $2.5 billion to support private sector development

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group,on Wednesday issued a $2.5 billion global bond, that was heavily oversubscribed also marking a solid start to the institution’s annual borrowing program to support private sector development in emerging markets.The five-year bond generated an order book of $3.8 billion, indicating strong investor demand. The bonds yield 1.229 percent—the equivalent of 17.45 basis points over the corresponding United States (U.S) Treasury note. Central banks and...

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Finmin Hammond: low-cost borrowing attractive but UK indebted- ITN

Britain's new finance minister Philip Hammond said record-low government bond yields made borrowing attractive but the country was already very indebted."Borrowing, when the cost of money is cheap, has some great attractions, but this country is already highly indebted," Hammond said in an interview with ITN. "And we need to be very careful about the signals we send to markets about our intentions. It is about getting the balance right, making sure that we borrow and invest wisel...

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New UK finance minister: We will do whatever is necessary after Brexit

Britain's new finance minister, Philip Hammond, said on Thursday he will do whatever is necessary to restore confidence in the economy after the Brexit vote, suggesting a softer less aggressive approach to bringing down the budget deficit.In his first public comments since succeeding George Osborne as chancellor of the Exchequer, Hammond praised Bank of England Governor Mark Carney - who he was due to meet on Thursday - and said he would take decisions over the summer before outlining his tax and spending plans."Markets do need signals of reassurance,...

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Likely hack of U.S. banking regulator by China covered up -probe

The Chinese government likely hacked computers at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and employees at the U.S. banking regulator covered up the intrusions, according to a congressional report on Wednesday.The report cited an internal FDIC investigation as identifying Beijing as the likely perpetrator of the attacks, which the probe said were covered up to protect the job of FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, who was nominated for his post in 2011."The committee's interim report sheds light on the FDIC's lax cyber security...

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May to take over as British PM with mammoth task of delivering Brexit

Theresa May will take over the job of British prime minister from David Cameron on Wednesday and form a government with the monumental tasks of extricating Britain from the European Union and uniting a fractured nation. May, UK PM May, who has been interior minister for six years and is seen by her supporters as a safe pair of hands to steer the country through the disruptive Brexit process, will become Britain's second woman prime minister, after...

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Nigeria's First Bank says overhauling loan book

Nigeria's biggest lender First Bank said it overhauling its credit risk management to ensure that its loan books are properly structured to avert further building up of Non-Performing Loan (NPL), its CEO said on Tuesday. "The entire credit system is being overhaul, we are putting in place right process, we have recruited an experienced chief risk officer to help restructure the credit process while deploying technology to ensure that our risk management is very robust," Adesola Adeduntan said. Adeduntan said it has centralised approving authority...

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Power Supply Up By 140MW

The energy supply from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator (SO) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) rose by 140 megawatts (Mw) on Saturday, information posted on the website of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) yesterday indicated. In its daily summary of the electricity market performance, the NESI noted that power supply to the 11 distribution companies (DisCos) rose from 2,762Mw on Friday to 2902Mw on Saturday. During the period under review, energy loss as a result of gas constraints reduced marginally from...

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Nigeria to raise 120 billion naira in 2021, 2026, 2036 bond

Nigeria plans to raise 120 billion naira ($424.78 million) in local currency denominated bonds with maturities ranging between 5-year and 20-year on July 13, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said on Monday. The debt office said in a notice that it will raise 40 billion naira at par in 2021 bond, while also raising 40 billion naira apiece in the 2026 and 2036 maturing bonds at the auction. The 2026 and 2036 debt are a reopening of the previously issued paper, the debt office said. Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy, said it would borrow around 900...

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Bank of England meets to weigh up Brexit threat to UK economy

The Bank of England has kept its main interest rate at 0.5 percent for nearly 90 monthly meetings in a row, but that could change next week when it assesses the economic impact of Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union.Governor Mark Carney has already signalled that the BoE will cut rates below their already record low levels over the summer and possibly resume its 375 billion-pound bond-buying programme.That could cushion some of the hit from the vote, which has opened up the prospect of years of economic uncertainty as Britain reworks...

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Nigerian interbank rate rises on cash shortage

Nigeria's interbank overnight lending rate rose sharply on Friday to an average of 15 percent from 5 percent a week ago, after central bank debited commercial lenders for treasury bills purchases.Nigeria sold a total of 190 billion naira ($670 million) in treasury bills on Friday with maturities ranging from three months to one year, with yields broadly flat.Market liquidity had opened at 167.26 billion naira on Friday, but the money market went into repo after the central bank sold treasury bills which significantly reduced level of cash in the...

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Two Nigerian banks under watch after Skye Bank's capital problem - CBN

Nigeria's central bank is monitoring one or two commercial lenders for liquidity after Skye Bank failed to meet prudential ratios, prompting it to replace its top executives this week, the director of banking supervision said on Friday. Emefiele, CBN governor Banking supervision director, Tokunbo Martins, said "one or two" commercial banks had failed liquidity tests but that they were not in the same situation as Skye. The central bank on Monday...

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Nigeria replaces Skye Bank bosses over capital failures

Nigeria's central bank has replaced the chairman and chief executive of Skye Bank after it failed to meet minimum capital ratios, its governor said on Monday. M.K Ahmad, New Skye chairman The central bank said Skye Bank's non-performing loan ratio has been above the regulatory limit for a while and it had met with Skye's board to resolve the issue, governor Godwin Emefiele told a briefing. Earlier, banking sources told Reuters...

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Nigerian interbank rate eases as market liquidity surges

Nigeria's interbank overnight rate fell to 5 percent on Friday from 15 percent a week ago, as cash from maturing treasury bills and payments by the government to contractors helped boost liquidity.The increased cash flow left the money market with a 267.10 billion naira surplus balance on Friday, reversing the 300 billion naira shortfall of a week ago and pushing down the cost of borrowing among commercial lenders. "There was repayment of about 115.03 billion naira in matured treasury bills at the Open Market Operations (OMO) on Thursday, while...

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BMW to develop driverless car technology with Intel, Mobileye

BMW is teaming up with Intel and Mobileye to develop new technology for the auto industry that could put self-driving cars on the road by around 2021. BMW car The alliance highlights a shift in the dynamics of research and development in the car industry, which until recently saw automakers largely dictating terms for suppliers to deliver pre-defined technologies at specified volumes and prices.Now carmakers are increasingly striking partnerships...

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