- Money supply drops by 0.43 per cent amid inflation pressure
- Experts optimistic about improved economic indices
BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
Currency in circulation in Nigeria increased by 6.32 per cent to N2.52 trillion in one month, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The figure rose from N2.37 trillion in April 2023 to N2.52 trillion in May 2023.
Money supply, also known as M3, dropped by 0.43 per cent in one month.
Data from the CBN showed that money supply declined to N55.80 trillion in May 2023 from N56.04 trillion in April of the same year.
Similarly, credit to the government declined by 0.22 per cent to N30 trillion in May 2023, compared to N30.76 trillion recorded in the previous month.
Experts have, however, said despite inflationary pressure and uncertainties in the short term, they are optimistic that economic indices will head north with consistent implementation of ongoing review policies by the current administration.
Meanwhile, investor’s interest in industrial heavyweight stock, BUACEMENT which accounted for its share price rising by (+2.50%) alongside Tier-1 banking names, ZENITHBANK (+1.56%) and GTCO (+3.97%) pushed the broader index into positive territory on Monday.
The gain recorded by the heavyweights, outweighing losses in telco heavyweights, AIRTELAFRI (-0.54%), MTNN (-2.07%) alongside FBNH (-2.31%).
Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 15.78 percent, while market capitalisation gained N71.95 billion to close at N32.31 trillion.
The Lagos bourse rebounded after the previous session’s pullback as the benchmark index gained 0.22 percent to close at 59,338.76 points.
Analysis of market activities showed that trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 42.69 percent.
A total of 552.69 million shares valued at N13.06 billion were exchanged in 8,052 deals. ACCESSCORP (+2.01%) led the volume chart with 74.60 million units traded while BUACEMENT (+2.50%) led the value chart in deals worth N3.86 billion.
Market breadth closed positive at a 1.72-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. TRANSCORP Hotel (+10.00%) topped thirty (30) others on the leader’s log, while UNITYBNK (-10.00%) led seventeen (17) others on the laggard’s table