- Investor portfolios shrink N131bn as sell-off hits equities market
Nigeria’s foreign reserves have seen a net inflow of about $2.35bn into the Central Bank’s coffers.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, at the Corporate Customers Forum in Lagos State on Thursday.
“There has been a net inflow in the first seven months of this year of about $2.35bn every month,” Edun stated, adding that this increase has played a key role in stabilizing the naira in the foreign exchange market.
He also said, “We also have foreign exchange liquidity. The gross reserves are up,” the minister continued. He attributed this growth to the government’s efforts and remarked, “On the fiscal side as well, government revenues are growing.”
Edun highlighted that the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio stands at 10 per cent, with the revenue to GDP at 15 per cent, calling for more infrastructure and social safety net spending to address these low figures.
“We have relative currency stability. And of course, the all-important margin of the rates. We’ve seen a gradual elimination of multiple exchange rates,” Edun concluded.
In July, it was reported that Nigeria’s foreign reserve rose to $35.05bn according to the data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The current level of the reserves marks a return to the early days of President Bola Tinubu’s administration when the reserves stayed above the $35bn mark.
Investor portfolios shrink N131bn as sell-off hits equities market
Meanwhile, the local stock market ended on a bearish note today, as the ASI dropped by 0.23 percent, settling at 98,003.75 points.
This decline triggered a 0.23 percent reduction in market capitalization, closing at ₦56.32 trillion, resulting in a ₦130.5 billion loss in investor portfolios due to sell-offs.
Despite the negative sentiment, 25 stocks gained while 26 stocks saw declines in their share prices.
Leading gainers included ABCTRANS, MCNICHOLS, UPL, FIDSON, and CAVERTON, which rose by 10.00 percent, 10.00 percent, 9.95 percent, 9.85 percent, and 9.80 percent, respectively.
On the losing side, HONYFLOUR (-9.98%), FBNH (-9.88%), UPDC (-9.74%), NSLTECH (-8.82%), and TANTALIZER (- 8.82%) were among the major decliners.
Sectoral performance was broadly negative, with the Banking sector down 0.62 percent, Consumer Goods down 0.26 percent, Industrial down 0.06 percent, Insurance down 0.57 percent, and Oil and Gas down 0.13 percent.
Despite the overall bearish trend, trading activity was strong, with the number of deals, volume, and value rising by 2.30 percent, 30.94 percent, and 50.13 percent, respectively, reaching 473.09 million shares valued at ₦11.36 billion across 9,848 transactions.
JAPAULGOLD emerged as the most traded stock, with 106.7 million units worth ₦259.8 million exchanged in 176 deals.
