- NGX All-Share Index posts rebound for investors to gain N31.81bn
BY FESTUS OKOROMADU, ABUJA
The House of Representative has passed the medium-term expenditure framework for 2024-2026 with a $73.66 per barrel crude oil benchmark in 2024, $73.76 in 2025 and $69.90 in 2026.
It also based the estimate on an exchange rate of N700/$ in 2024, N665.61 in 2025 and N669.79 in 2026.
The Reps also based the framework estimate on 1.78 million crude oil production per day in 2024, 1.8 million in 2025 and 1.81 million per day in 2026.
The Reps used these sets of assumptions that will be used to prepare the country’s budget over the next three years.
The document, which was agreed by President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet before going to the House of Representatives for approval, expects the Naira to be around N700 per dollar next year before firming slightly in 2025 and 2026.
The Naira last week briefly slumped to a record low of N1, 105 against the dollar on the official market, bringing the official exchange rate within touching distance of the parallel market rate.
The currency later recovered to around N800. The government is projecting a slight rise in crude production and gross domestic output growth, with a moderation in double-digit inflation.
The fiscal framework must also be passed by the upper chamber of parliament.
Tinubu is also due to send the country’s 2024 spending plan of N26 trillion to parliament for approval.
NGX All-Share Index posts rebound for investors to gain N31.81bn
Recovering from the previous session’s loss, the Lagos bourse posted gains as the benchmark index rose by 0.08% to close at 71,066.55 points.
Gains in Tier-1 Banking, ZENITHBANK (+0.15%), GTCO (+0.54%) and UBA (+0.73%) contributed to outweigh losses in INTBREW (-2.17%), OANDO (-3.72%) and FCMB (-1.45%), keeping the market in the green.
As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 38.66%, while market capitalization gained ₦31.81bn to close at ₦39.08trn.
Analysis of Tuesday’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 26.07%.
A total of 491.40m shares valued at ₦3.22bn were exchanged in 6,549 deals.
UNITYBNK (9.38%) led the volume chart with 75.44m units traded while VFDGROUP (0.00%) led the value chart in deals worth ₦481.81m.
Market breadth closed positive at a 5.50-to-1 ratio, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. MECURE (+10.00%) topped forty-three (43) others on the leader’s log, while CHAMPION (-10.00%) led seven (7) others on the laggard’s table.
Cooking gas price rose by 14.4% in October—NBS
Meanwhile, the average retail cost for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) saw a month-on-month rise of 14.04%, rising from N9, 247.40 in September 2023 to N10, 545.87 in October 2023.
This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics, latest LPG (cooking gas) price watch for October 2023.
When compared with the corresponding period of last year, the cost of cooking gas increased by 4.93% from N10,050.53 in October 2022. Furthermore, the average retail price for 5kg gas in Nigeria increased by 8.89% from N4, 189.96 recorded in September to N4, 562.51 in October.
According to the NBS, the price of 5kg of cooking gas rose by 1.76% from the N4, 483.75 for October 2022.
When compared across states, Edo emerged with the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) at N12, 536.88, trailed by Jigawa at N12, 050.00 and Delta at N11, 987.50.
On the other hand, Zamfara saw the lowest price of cooking gas at N9, 050.00, followed by Lagos and Oyo at N9, 071.05 and N9, 407.14, respectively.
When compared across geopolitical zones, the South-South region recorded the highest average retail price for the same gas cylinder size at N11, 480.60, followed by the North-Central at N10, 683.97, while the South-East recorded the lowest average price at N9, 847.42.
A recent report said that cooking gas prices are increasing for two reasons-low investments in natural gas exploration across the country and low production of associated gas because of rampant crude oil theft rampant in the Niger Delta. Although Nigeria boasts of over 200 trillion cbf of natural gas reserves which puts her among the top ten countries with the largest gas reserves in the world, low investment has resulted in her being an importer of LPG.