DMO sells Nl00bn FGN bonds, as naira fa.lls MTN's $650m SUbma tine
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he Debt Manaaement Ofnee has said that Nigeria sold NlOObn worth of debt al Its re,ular bond auction on Wednesday, the third Ihls year, wllh yields faUlng com· pared with the coupons at hs previous auction The office loki Reuten yesterday that It auctioned N'albn 0( paper due 10 mature in October 2019 and N30bn in bonds due 10 mamre in January 2022. whlle It IJsued an additional N50bn in 2022 maturity papft" in a non· competitive sale. Bond dealers saki the rau in y\ek1s reflects the martet trend after the Central Bank of NI&eria held Its b&dunark interest rate at 12 percent t'NOweeUllIO. whlJe blflaOon rates for Febru"'" unoxpec1edIyThe 2019 bonds were sokj 81 a I1lIlf"Ilnal rate 01 15.30 per cent, )ower than the 16.16 per cent they yielded 81 the preYK)U5 sue-
lion. while the 2022: instruments were issued al 1.5.41 per cent, compared with 15.89 per cent at the rebruary auc:Uon, the debe office saki. The Instruments are nH)pen.. lnp of previous issues. Total subscription al Wedne$. dQ's auction stood at NISI .4ho. compared with NI4L7bn at the
_auction. A DMO o01clal saki N50bn worth of :m2 bonds were IOId 10 some K(M!nlInent lnstltuUons with funds on their hands. OUI-
side the auctloo propes: TheCBN and other ~cov
emment flnandal institutions an!: not alkN.l!d to pe.nJclpa&e in the auction.. but are &f\.-en • ape. clal allotment 10 thaI they wUI not crowd OUt Other investors. -rbe original coupon rates of 16.39 per cent each for the 0ctober- 2019 and January 2022 will be maintained... the DMO said
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The country I.uues !KM!I"I!.ign
bonds monthly 10 support the l0cal bond market, create d benchmark for corporate issuance and fund Its budeec def\clt Meanwhile, the naira depnlCl.. Bted to the k)wes( In more than two weeks aaalnst the dollar on accwnulated demand ror the
United Slates currency fuUow· In& the central bank's decision to reduce sales to foreign-eu:han.ge bureaus. The currency rI Aft1ca's bi&.. aern oU producer retreated 0.2 per cent to NI57.905 per dollar )'eSterdIU' In Lagos. its 'Neak.. est since March 13, aa:ordlng to data complkd by B~ The Central Bank rI Nteerta on March II cut dollar saJes to each ~u by 2S per cent 10 m,«Xl dollars per week. with .. out ctvln& • rea9OIl. TIle rqu. IlJtor rabed the 'I.-eekly sales to $loo,«Xl In August In an attempt to reduce demand presswt! and
stBbUite the naira..
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Nigerian fanners rged to p rtner with research ins itutions III STAHLEY IHEDJG80 OlufotaJl l ad~ that the aaep~ It empowered
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Nigerian (armen ! have been urced to pan.. ner with various agri. cuJtw-al research lnstItuUons for lnIormaUon that would booIt their outputs.. The Executive Direct.or 01 National Hortk:ultural Research Institute (NHRJ),.Mn. Adenlke OlufoIaJl, made the appeal in her paper present. lion at a .."riuhop orpn1aed by Sklll Enhancement Centre
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She said arrkultural re. search institutions throuch technoloc nnd innovation
r MESHACK IDEHEN
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he President of the Petroleum and Natura) Gas Senior Staff Association
of Nl,eda (PENGASSAN), Mr: Babatunde Oaun, has said there is the uraent need for . review of the countrY. Imml .. eration paltey that would help in reducln.& the challenaes of lnsecurlt)t Speakln& in Lap yeslerda,y on the security sltuaUon In the country, panlcularly attacks on oU and Bas workers In the country, <>aun saId oranntsed labour In the 011 and 118S sector had called on the Federal Gov .. ernment to review the coun· try's lmmlcration poUey in order to check Influx of iIIecal lmml&rant5 intO the eountr)t
Accordlnll to the PENGASSAN President, many people from nelghbou.rtna countries come into the Nl&erla without proper papers, documents and without any purpose, while further alITibutine the devel· opment to the porosity of the nation's borders and lack or commlunenl on the pan of the officers and men of the Ni&erl.a IDlIl1iaration Service.. Ocun saId there have been severa] reporu of cases of al .. lacks on the Nigerians In the nonhern pan of the country by herdsmen from some neigh· bourtne countries, saylna l'Urther that the review of the LmmJgration poUey needs to In· volve re-orientation, tralnln& and retralnln& or the officers and men of the Nt&erian Immi.. ,noon service on Protectlnl
our borders. He explained that the laxity In the .ystem allows foret&ners to take jobs thai 8n! meant (or Nleerlans, . latlna that whereas, "Some 01 the forel&nen who parade as expatriates have no . peciaUsaUon that can q&JaiJty them for being in tbecouotnt" " With thl.J kind of situation, they (forei&nen) take our jobs and Increase unemployment in the country and violate the Nllerian law on eIPlltrlale quota," Oaun said. lie charaed the Federal Gov· ernment to uraently revlew the Economic Community of West African Stales (ECQWAS) poliey which allows for tree movement of IGOds and per.. sons within the sub re&ion as • WIU' of curb!n, criminal ac· tivltles In the countnt
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the fanners to tier under, .tand to changes thai I. ,iJlalle r any r:I their prod~ I . horticultural crops. .. She lamel).ted that the con. straints rar..b)lt qrlculturai sec:..- OU1P\ltI I .Njger1a are lack or PD61 handlln&
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ute.
nc and cold
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storace facillti " poor road netYe"ClB, lqw . of lmP~ seeds seedllngs. Iowratept t4nl~ f'US8ifiand
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In h r wei mit address, Mrs. Ibpk. Chief' Ex.. ecutive "¢okar SINeR, said
that
made IOOd nndlnp thai alq address {hreals to conunerclat farming outputa ~and lmll~ the local farming .ystem ~ yields better resulra.
PENGASSAN wants review of immigration policy
... that is APril,"
the lasi years besaJd. Osho loa JandIng In Nigeria 0( !he West AfrIcan Cable Syril" tem, an Internndonal subma· rine, the t:reelcoms finn has said It wou)d ~ Uve operatim on the eabIe In the next two weeD. Th1s was dIscloged to National Mln'or by Ihe ChW EnIfS'JM1se Solutions OfIker 01 MlW N~ ria, Me Babanmde 0W0. d .... ' Ing !he launch of the telecoms finn', E n _ Mobility Appa. a businesHo-busl.nea: ICT pert.. follo In Lap durlni the Mlek. '1nternet servkeI or data services is the fUture. AU attM· ties are BQiDa to bedrtwn by the ' internet and we poaltloned tor
u.; tlJI.~~ ¥meanl to tural sec·
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Exporters advocate cooperation with government agencies
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_InN_have
called for cooperation between NI&erla and lb... _ _theCounclJ
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otbu~tqendesthat
are l1nked to the export secto{
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of the eoooomy wfth • view to
They made the call at the
maiden esponers' fbrwn or&anf ised at the lnstaru:e ol the Min· ister ol Trade and lzMIstment. Olusegun A,tanca. The meetlna whkh held at the NlooN Luxury Hotel In
AbI.Qa attracted over 50 major exporters In the oountry tnclud~ Ing lop CJIIlcialJ of the NEPC and the MInlsIry of Tn>de and inwstmenL Soma ol the eJ:pCJrter1 who
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"PIIi IjnuaI oIl6ernJd IbaI ~~Iure of the C have r.uther
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IbaI u.." N~~6,*, of ... plicttion was .qu being held They then urpd government 10 Jive an sQppart the NEPC needed. fbr Jt to be able to tulflJ
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lt5mandat~
Aganp h9WVV'U on behalI' or eoverruntnt lPDJoclz.ed for the inoollVllDtence the improper implementation of ... EEG.,.. caUled.. He Hliured \he export .. en that thit ilsutl lurround1n& ... EEG were _ """'_