- Nigeria borrows over N600 billion each year from internal sources to pay the salaries of its workforce. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, who said this, added that with the way things are going many states may not be able to pay salaries in the next three to four months. He urged all faith-based organizations and traditional institutions to sensitize Nigerians on the need to exercise patience over the hardships that are currently being experienced by all.
- The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, the world’s biggest lender and Nigeria’s Central Bank have signed an agreement on yuan transactions. The Director General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s African Affairs Department, Lin Songtian, said that the agreement “means that the renminbi (yuan) is free to flow among different banks in Nigeria and the renminbi has been included in the foreign exchange reserves of Nigeria”. The agreement was reached following a meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
- The subsidy on petrol has risen to N9.09 per litre, according to the latest pricing template released by the PPPRA. This puts the minimum market value of petrol at N95.09 per litre. The PPPRA in its template, released Tuesday, put the Cost plus Freight of imported petrol at N74.83 per litre, with other cost elements hiking the landing cost of the product for marketers to N81.44 per litre. With distribution margins put at N14.30 per litre, the Expected Open Market price of the product rose to N95.74 per litre. However, the Federal Government fixed the Ex-depot price, which is the price at which marketers purchase the products from depots, at N76.50 per litre, while the retail price was fixed at N86.50 per litre.
- Lagos governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has said that traders in the Mile 12 Market would be relocated to the new market site in Imota within the next six months. The governor, who inspected the new site proposed for the market, assured that work would commence there in the next seven days to realise the objective. He ordered the Ministry of Physical Planning to commence work to meet up with the six months deadline. According to the government, the market has outgrown its present location and needs to be relocated. The government had announced the relocation plan after a communal clash in the area led to a two-week closure of the market, before its eventual reopening on March 17. The new market would sit on a 35- hectare expanse of land.
