Daily Watch

13th July 2015

    • The Department of Petroleum Resources has blamed the unending scarcity of petroleum products on “unscrupulous marketers and depot owners”. According to the DPR, marketers make double gains arising from an escalated ex-depot price, and the collection of subsidies from the Petroleum Support Fund. The regulatory body claims that the marketers are charging an additional N17 to sell at N95, going against the government mandate to sell at an ex-depot price of N77.60
  • The Interbank lending rate doubled to 10 percent on Friday as the Central Bank mopped up excess cash in the system. According to traders, the government injected N163 billion into the banking system this week to help cash-strapped states offset a funding crisis in their states. The injection of cash drove interbank rates as low as 5 percent on Thursday, before the Central Bank moved in to mop it up.
  • Capital raising among Nigerian banks in preparation for the stricter Basel II requirements has started in earnest. United Bank for Africa (UBA) said that it raised N11.5 billion by selling new shares to existing shareholders to boost its capital. Fidelity Bank had last Monday raised N30 billion through an unsecured bond at 16.48 percent, to fund increased lending to small businesses and retail clients, and Skye Bank has also said it will raise N50 billion via a rights issue by the third quarter to expand its loan book, after it sold 100 billion naira worth of commercial notes in March.