Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria.
Reports from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate that Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped to 15.37% in December 2017. This was against the 15.9% drop as at November 2017. According to Punch the Consumer Price Index released by NBS, which measures inflation, revealed “that the drop of 0.53 percent points recorded in December makes it the eleventh consecutive slowdown in the inflation rate. The report said the Urban inflation rate rose by 15.78 percent year-on-year in December from 16.27 percent recorded in November, while the rural inflation rate also eased by 15.02 percent in December from 15.59 percent in November”.
According to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Newsletter “SABMiller, the largest breweries in the world which was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) a Brazilian-Belgian Group headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, currently leads 19 other firms in fresh investments worth over $10 billion expected to be completed in Ogun state this year.” The report said that “the fresh 20 companies which cut across key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, mining, and quarrying, production of fast moving consumer goods, banking and services, are expected to individually invest between $100 million and $2 billion in the State in the long run. The fresh investments will be a follow-up to already establish 140 companies whom, Governor Ibikunle Amosun said during the presentation of 2018 Budget before the State House of Assembly, had individually invested between a minimum of $200 million and in excess of $2 billion in some instances.”
“Insurance regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has released a price guide for compulsory insurances, in a bid to end rate cutting, unhealthy competition and the inability of operating companies to meet claims obligation to policyholders. NAICOM, whose core responsibility is to protect insurance consumers that pass their risks to insurance companies, warned operators to ensure strict compliance, assuring that the commission will monitor adherence.” Business Day reports that “affected policies include statutory Group Life Insurance, Builder’s Liability Insurance, Occupier’s Liability Insurance, Healthcare Professional Indemnity Insurance and motor third party.”
Business Day reports that “Nigeria is the most economically- optimistic country than any other country in the world for 2018 according to a survey, with 58 percent of respondents saying this year will be better. The survey carried out by US-based Gallup International’s its 41st Annual Global End of Year Survey released over the weekend conducted in 55 countries between October and December 2017, asked respondent questions on three topics: hope, economic optimism, and happiness”.
“The intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the tune of the $210 million into the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market to meet customers request in various segments has helped to sustain the exchange rate stability”. In Business Day (January 16, 2018, page 6), the report has it that “figures obtained from the bank on Monday, indicate that the CBN offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) received $55 million. Customers requiring foreign exchange for Invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million”.