Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Ltd and economist, has projected the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will spend between $8 and $10 billion to defend the naira this year, which would drag the country's gross external reserves to between $30 and $32 billion. The FX market could face pressure in the short term, but Rewane sees the effective exchange rate gaining as the differential between the official and parallel market rates narrows. The CBN's policy direction will be influenced by global developments and the adoption of its crawling peg strategy. Bisi Adeyemi, President and Council Chairman of NBCC, highlighted the challenges posed by an unstable global market and the implications for Nigerian businesses. Rewane said inflation would accelerate in the first half of the year before decelerating, warning that it was not in the interest of the country to continue to churn out data with integrity issues. Ben Llewellyn-Jones, British Deputy High Commissioner, underscored the strong bilateral ties between the two countries and the UK's commitment to strengthening existing trade relations.