January inflation, s’court verdict on naira notes… 7 top business stories to track this week

Here are the seven top business news you need to track this week — February 13 to February 17.

SUPREME COURT VERDICT ON OLD NAIRA DEADLINE

The federal government had said it would obey the supreme court’s order restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from banning the use of the old naira notes from February 10.

Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation spoke on the federal government’s position on Friday.

Last week, the supreme court temporarily stopped the federal government from banning the use of the old naira notes from February 10, 2023.

The court, however, adjourned the matter to February 15, 2023, for hearing of the main suit.

The court is, therefore, expected to pass judgement on the matter this week.

JANUARY INFLATION REPORT

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release a report on the consumer price index (CPI) and inflation report in January 2023 on Wednesday, February 15.

The bureau also intends to release a report on national household kerosene and premium motor spirit (petrol) price watch for January 2023.

It would also release a price watch report on liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) and automotive gas oil (diesel) price watch for the same month.

DMO AUCTIONS N360 BILLION BONDS

The Debt Management Office (DMO), says it is listing four bonds valued at  N360 billion for auction on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria (FGN).

The auction date is February 13, while the settlement date is February 15, 2023.

Announcing the bond auction, the DMO listed the first offer as a February 2028 FGN bond, valued at N90 billion at an interest rate of 13.98 percent per annum (10-year re-opening).

The second is an April 2032 FGN bond, valued at N90 billion at 12.50 percent interest rate per annum (10-year re-opening).

There is also an April 2037 FGN bond, valued at N90 billion, at 16.24 percent interest rate per annum (20-year re-opening).

The fourth offer is an April 2049 FGN bond, also valued at N90 billion, at an interest rate of 14.80 percent per annum (30-year-opening).

CBN, MINT TO PLAN NAIRA PRODUCTION

The CBN says the scarcity of the naira notes was not due to a shortage of printing materials.

The apex bank spoke while debunking reports that  Godwin Emefiele, its governor, was quoted as saying there was a cash shortage because of the lack of sufficient capacity to print new naira notes to satisfy the demand.

Also on its part, The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM) said it has made adequate arrangements to ensure continuous production of the redesigned naira notes.

NIGERIA’S CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION HIT ONE-YEAR HIGH IN JANUARY 

Crude oil production in Nigeria increased to 1,258,150 barrels per day (bpd) in January 2023.

The production figure is 2 percent — or 22,833 bpd — higher than the 1,235, 317 bpd recorded in December 2022.

The data is contained in the latest crude oil and condensate production report of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The figure also represents the highest oil production since January 2022 when output averaged 1.39 million bpd.

OIL PRICE ROSE AS RUSSIAN ANNOUNCES PLANS TO CUT PRODUCTION

Oil prices rose on Friday after Russia announced plans to cut oil production.

The decision was in response to price caps imposed by the West on its oil and other oil products.

Brent crude rose 1.73 percent to $85.96 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went up 2.27 percent to $79.83 a barrel.

Last week, Brent dropped to $82 a barrel after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintained its current production levels.

SHELL CONFIRMS OIL SPILL IN RIVERS 

The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has confirmed an oil spill incident in Ebubu, Eleme LGA of Rivers state.

SPDC is the Nigerian subsidiary of oil multinational Shell Plc.

The oil company said a government-led joint investigation team was working to identify the cause and impact of the incident.