Forex, T.bills, others record N115.7trn turnover in 8 months

…Account for 76. 99% of total market proceeds
…Investors trade $1.25bn FX in 5 days
The total transactions turnover for the January to August 2018 period amounted to N115.68 trillion, as trading activities in Treasury bills (T.bills) and Foreign exchange contributed the largest to overall turnover, accounting for 76.99 per cent of the market, latest FMDQ OTC market turnover report has shown.

Other products traded on the FMDQ secondary market include Bonds (FGN Bonds, other Bonds (Agency, Sub-national, Corporate & Supranational) & Eurobonds)) Commercial Papers and Money Market (Repurchase Agreements (Repos)/Buy-Backs and Unsecured Placements/Takings). These figures exclude primary market auctions in T. bills and Bonds.

FX market transactions, including (Spot FX and FX Derivatives) accounted for 37.51 per cent, Treasury bills posted the highest with 39.48 per cent, whilst Repos/Buy-Backs product categories accounted for 15.39 per cent of overall market turnover.

Others are Bonds and Unsecured Placements & Takings, which contributed the least to overall market turnover, accounted for 7.08 per cent and 0.54 per cent respectively.

The key breakdown of the figure, however, showed that N28.278 trillion Forex was traded on the FMDQ OTC market turnover during the period under review, which was higher than N23.77 trillion between January and July, while N15.104 trillion was traded on the foreign exchange derivatives market, better than N13.04 trillion sold in the first seven months of 2018.

On Treasury Bills, a total of N45.668 was traded between January and August, an improved figure compared to N40.19 trillion declared between January and July 2018.

The report by FMDQ OTC stated: “Trading activities in Treasury bills contributed the largest to overall turnover, accounting for 40.40per cent of the market. FX market transactions (Spot FX and FX Derivatives) accounted for 37.00per cent while the Repos/Buy-Backs product category accounted for 15.39per cent of overall market turnover.

Bonds and Unsecured Placements & Takings, which contributed the least to overall market turnover, accounted for 6.65per cent and 0.54 per cent respectively”.

The report stated that FMDQ has accomplished a full and clear revival of the Commercial Paper (CP) market with registered CP Programmes on the FMDQ Platform now well above N1.00 trillion.

The month of August saw key activities in the CP quotations space on the OTC Exchange, wherein the N100.00 billion CP Programmes of Union Bank of Nigeria P;c and Flour Mills of Nigeria of Plç respectively, were registered on the OTC Exchange’s platform.

As these institutions and a host of others continue to effectively and sustainably meet their funding needs, as well as contribute to the development of the nation’s debt markets, FMDQ continues to take crucial steps, in collaboration with market stakeholders, towards promoting transparency, governance, integrity, and efficiency in the Nigerian CP market.

The Investors and Exporters forex segment of the Foreign Exchange market, recorded a market turnover of $1.25billion FX in just 5 days, with Friday figure of $289.73 million, claiming the highest figure traded for the week,

compared to $255.04 million sold on Thursday, $264.06 million sold on Wednesday, the same amount traded on Tuesday and $176.49 million on Monday, which was the lowest during the week.

Meanwhile, the Naira, at the end of trading activities for the week on Friday depreciated marginally against the US dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX window, trading at N363.92, weaker than N363.74 posted on Thursday, as well as N363.78 recorded on Wednesday, N363.72 Tuesday, however, better than N364.28 sold last Monday.

The local currency at the official CBN window, stood at N306.35 to the dollar, the same rate it traded throughout the week.

At the parallel market, the Naira closed at N359.5 to the dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N482 and N421.

Trading at the Bureau De Change (BDC) window saw the Naira close at N360 to the dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N482 and N421.

The Nigerian currency remained stable at the market mainly due to the series of interventions by the CBN.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN had said the outlook for the year remains positive as the economy is projected to grow by 1.75 per cent in 2018, anchored on continued stability in the foreign exchange market, sustained high price and production of oil and improved electricity supply.

They expressed that the gains so far achieved appear to be under threat of reversal, following new data which provides evidence of weakening fundamentals.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele said: “The committee identified rising inflation and pressure on external reserves created by capital flow reversal as the current challenges to growth.

“It noted that inflationary pressures have started rebuilding and capital flow reversals have intensified as shown by the bearish trend in the equities market even though the exchange rate remains very stable.”