Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) Monetary policy Committee (MPC) will begin its two day policy meeting on the 24th January  2022, with all indications pointing at the retention of the existing monetary policy stance. The apex bank will assess developments on the economic front and announce its monetary policy. Most analysts were of the view that the CBN's MPC will maintain the status quo again this week given the earlier anticipated decliing inflation.The CBN had maintained the status quo 25 times in the last 28 meetings.

First bank has recorded N147billion profit before tax in its results for the full year ended December 31, 2022. The performance represents 12.4 percent increase compared with N130.9 billion the bank achieved during same perid of 2021. The bank's profit after tax of N129.4 billion, represents 9.8% rise compared with N117.8billion and total assets of N10.1trillion, up 18.1% as against N8.5 trillion while customers' loans and advances of 3.7 trillion, up 30.5 percent as against N2.8 trillion while customers' deposits rose by 22.4% to 6.9 trillion, against N5.6 trillion the previous year. Also first bank first quarter 2023 results showed profit before tax N53.5billion, up 57 percent, compared to N34.1billion recorded in march 2022. Gross earnings stood at N245.7billion, up 44.2 per centers against N170.4billion and profit after tax of N48.0billion, up 54.8 percent from N31.0 billion recorded in March 2022   

JP Morgan estimates Nigeria's net foreign reserve to be around $3.7 billion, significantly below the $33.8 billion reported on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website. This figure is much lower than the $14 billion net figure at the end of 2021. The lower-than-reported forex reserve is due to larger currency swaps and borrowings against the forex reserve. The bank added $5 billion in International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights to external reserves, resulting in total gross forex reserves of $37.8 billion. The bank believes the CBN can withstand the pressure due to profit from swap arrangements between the CBN and commercial banks, allowing rates to continue to rise.

JP Morgan estimates Nigeria's net foreign reserve to be around $3.7 billion, significantly below the $33.8 billion reported on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website. This figure is much lower than the $14 billion net figure at the end of 2021. The lower-than-reported forex reserve is due to larger currency swaps and borrowings against the forex reserve. The bank added $5 billion in International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights to external reserves, resulting in total gross forex reserves of $37.8 billion. The bank believes the CBN can withstand the pressure due to profit from swap arrangements between the CBN and commercial banks, allowing rates to continue to rise.

The World Bank has named soaring interest rates, rising inflation, and the effects of COVID-19 economic shutdowns as factors in the decline of privately owned firms. Nigeria and other developing economies were highlighted by the bank as being particularly hard hit by the difficult economic conditions. The multinational agency claims that the private sector is contracting under significant pressure. Government expenditure and monetary policy, according to the head of the World Bank, are in unknown territory as macroeconomic imbalances continue to rise to previously unheard-of proportions. He continued by saying that the central bank's balance sheet had absorbed previously unheard-of quantities of bank reserves financed by long-term assets. He pointed out that major central banks are taking out sizable bank reserve loans to keep their bond and mortgage portfolios in tact.