The Director General of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunmah Oteh, returned to her post lately, after the two-month suspension from duties because of the fraud-related counter allegations between her and members of the House of Representatives Committee on the Capital Market.

Last week, CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee agreed to keep the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 12%, but decided to increase commercial banks’ Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 8 – 12%. In the aftermath of this decision, CBN accused the Money Deposit Banks of not lending to the real sector. CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi decried the reality that “rather than lend to the real economy, the banks have continued to take advantage of the high yields of government securities to direct credit away from the core private sector.”

Attrition, social stress and economic losses experienced during extended periods of fuel scarcity would make Nigerians pray that such traumatic situations do not arise. However, we recall the media interview with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, in June this year; in response to a question as to whether subsidy payments were ongoing, she confirmed that out of N888bn budgeted for subsidy in 2012, N451bn had already been paid out, well before the end of the second quarter!

The probes by various committees of the National Assembly revealed the depth of the depravity and the reckless lack of accountability in the management of the proceeds from crude oil, which contributes over 80% of our national revenue.

Many Nigerians believe that the ever-present challenges of fuel scarcity and subsidy could be conveniently resolved if new refineries are built, as national demand cannot obviously be met from the antiquated facilities available in existing government refineries. In recognition of this inadequacy, 23 licences for new refineries were approved by the authorities; 20 of these went to investors from the private sector, while the federal government and Chinese investors undertook to build additional refineries in Kogi, Lagos and Bayelsa States respectively.

This week, we will provide answers to some frequently asked questions regarding inflation, interest rates, and naira depreciation. Kindly read on.

Boxing enthusiasts will associate the above with the title of a fight contest, while our learned gentlemen may expect a legal confrontation; either way, Nigerians will laugh and cry at the same time at the unfolding drama between the oil magnate, Femi Otedola, on the one hand and the consummate legislator, Farouk Lawan, on the other.

The impact of the IMF-inspired Structural Adjustment Programme during the Babangida regime fundamentally destabilized our economy, and ultimately altered the mobility of some of our brightest intellects in favour of a migratory urge to more clement pastures abroad.

It is now clear that over 150 innocent souls perished last Sunday as a result of the Dana air crash. These unfortunate souls may have since been joined by many more, who have tragically lost their lives nationwide as a result of the inertia in one government agency or the other.

The issue of fuel subsidy removal has become recurrent in our economy. The following
are answers to salient questions on the beneficent resolution of this dilemma:

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) today signed an ISDA Master Agreement to enter into cross-currency swap transactions to facilitate local currency lending and bond issuance in Africa. It is the first ISDA Master Agreement either institution has signed with another multilateral financial institution.

The boisterous assurances by the last Governor of Central bank, Chukwuma Soludo that the Nigerian economy and banking sub-sector were firmly immune from the world’s economic meltdown still remain fresh in our memories.

Over the years, the unyielding price of fuel products in Nigeria has instigated much acrimony between the government on one side and Labour and the people on the other. Fuel prices have risen steadily from less then 50kobo/litre to the current subsidized price of N97/litre; every government, be it military or civilian, has one time or the other had to contend with the threat or indeed a successful call for strike by Labour.

In the light of the ongoing constitutional amendment by the National Assembly to whittle down the perceived excessive powers of the apex bank in the CBN’s 2007 Act, we concluded last week in this column that the issue of good governance will not depend on whether the Chairman and Directors of the apex bank were external directors.

A bill to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act on Wednesday passed through second reading at the House of Representatives.