FAAC meeting postponement, new inflation rate… business stories to track this week

Here are the seven top business stories you need to track this week — February 24 to March 1.

FAAC MEETING POSTPONED INDEFINITELY 

The federation account allocation committee (FAAC) has announced the indefinite postponement of its meetings for February 2025.

Ali Mohammed, the FAAC secretary, announced the postponement in a statement on February 20.

TheCable understands that the development was due to a dispute between states and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over outstanding remittances.

The publication reported that states decided to boycott the meeting until the national oil company remits revenues amounting to an estimated N1.7 trillion from November 2024 when the petrol subsidy was fully removed.

NIGERIA’S INFLATION RATE DROPS TO 24.48% — AFTER REBASING CPI

The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped from 34.8 percent in December 2024 to 24.48 percent in January after rebasing the consumer price index (CPI).

In a statement addressing the CPI report for January, the NBS said the rate represents a decrease of 18 percent compared to the 29.9 percent recorded in January 2024.

Adeyemi Adeniran, statistician-general of the NBS, said the “all-items index which is used to measure headline inflation for January 2025 was 110.7, resulting in a headline inflation rate of 24.48% on a year-on-year basis”.

CBN RETAINS INTEREST RATE AT 27.5%

The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained the monetary policy rate (MPR), which benchmarks interest rates in the country, at 27.5 percent.

Speaking at a media briefing after the committee’s 299th meeting, Olayemi Cardoso, CBN’s governor, said the committee members unanimously voted to retain the rate at 27.5 percent.

The committee retained the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 50 percent and liquidity ratio at 30 percent.

CBN DIRECTS BANKS TO PUBLISH DETAILS OF DORMANT ACCOUNTS, UNCLAIMED BALANCES ON WEBSITE

The apex bank also directed all banks and other financial institutions to publish details of dormant accounts, unclaimed balances, and other financial assets on their website.

The CBN said financial institutions must display the names of individuals authorised to operate the accounts, the type of account, and the branch where the account is domiciled on their official websites.

In cases where other financial institutions (OFIs) do not have websites, the CBN said they are required to publish the information on their association’s website.

FG TO BAN 60,000-LITRE FUEL TANKERS FROM ROADS MARCH 1

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has banned 60,000-litre fuel tankers from operating on Nigerian roads.

Speaking to journalists on February 19, Ogbugo Ukoha, NMDPRA executive director of distribution systems, storage, and retailing infrastructure, said the ban, which would take effect from March 1, would mitigate truck-in-transit incidents.

He said the decision was made in response to the increasing number of road accidents involving heavy-duty petroleum tankers.

‘NIGERIA’S OIL PRODUCTION NOW 1.8M BPD’

Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), says Nigeria’s oil production has increased from about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.8 million bpd since he took office.

Speaking at the 2025 Heirs Energies’s petroleum industry leadership forum on Thursday in Abuja, Lokpobiri expressed confidence that the country can meet its 2025 budget target of 2.06 million bpd.

Lokpobiri said the production target is achievable, given the investments made in the industry since he took office.

OFFICIAL, PARALLEL FX RATES CONVERGE AT 1,502/$ 

The naira closed against the dollar at N1,502 at both parallel and official sections of the foreign exchange (FX) market on February 21.

The current FX rate represents a 3.7 percent or N58 appreciation compared to the N1,560/$ traded on February 17  at the parallel market.

In the official market, the local currency closed against the dollar at N1,502 on Friday, compared to N1,512/$ reported on Monday.