This week, commercial banks in Nigeria raised interest rates for loans by as much as 200 basis points (2%). Nigerian banks also grabbed another opportunity to reiterate to their customers of CBN”s prohibition of cryptocurrency transactions.
The Nigerian stock market closed on a positive note during the week as the all-share index appreciated by 0.55% from 52,908.24 basis points recorded as of the previous week to close at 53,201.38 basis points on Friday, 10th June 2022.
Here is a compilation of this week’s notable happenings in the Nigeria macro-economic space, markets, regulators as well as other world economies.
MACROECONOMY
Exchange rate
- The exchange rate at the official market depreciated during the week, falling by 0.36% to close at N421.25/$1 on Friday from N419.75/$1 recorded in the previous week. A total of $503.78 million was traded in the Investors and Exporters window, which is significantly lower than the $1.34 billion that exchanged hands in the previous week.
- Similarly, at the black market, naira closed at N608/$1 on Friday, 10th June 2022 compared to N606/$1 recorded in the previous week. This represents a 0.33% depreciation compared to the previous week.
- Also, the exchange rate at the peer-to-peer market closed at N605.35/$1, representing a 0.14% depreciation compared to N604.48/$1 recorded as of the previous week.
External reserve
- Nigeria’s external reserve is beginning to witness some uptrend as the reserve level gained $39.9 million in the week under review to stand at $38.52 billion as of Thursday, 9th June 2022 from $38.48 billion recorded as of the previous week Thursday.
- The Nigerian reserve level had plunged considerably, due to the apex bank’s continual intervention in the official I&E window. However, sustained crude oil price elevation has resulted to an uptick in the nation’s foreign reserve, which will be beneficial in defending the local currency.
Nigeria’s debt stock rises to N41.6 trillion in Q1 2022
- Nigeria’s total debt stock rose to N41.6 trillion in the first quarter of 2022, representing a N2.05 trillion increase compared to N39.56 trillion recorded as of December last year. In dollar terms, Nigeria’s debt stock rose to $100.1 billion.
- According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s total public debt stock includes new domestic borrowings by the federal government, which was used to partly finance the 2022 budget deficit. The debt stock also includes $1.25 billion Eurobond issued in March 2022 and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
- Similarly, there were also increases in the debt stock of the various state governments and the federal capital.