JP Morgan, a global financial services company based in the United States, predicted on Wednesday that by December 2023, the value of the naira would be valued at N850/$ at the Investors’ and Exporters’ Forex window.
The US bank stated that given the willingness to pair it with tighter monetary conditions, the recent efforts to restore a flexible FX regime might be maintained.
“The interbank FX rate has risen in recent days to over 900, from 750, thereby significantly closing the gap to the parallel rate which is now just above 1,000.
“We expect USD/NGN to eventually move lower towards 850 by year-end as the combination of tighter policy, as well as more attractive rates and FX levels deter incremental dollarization and perhaps attracts some foreign capital,” JP Morgan asserted.
In addition to the policy actions, JP Morgan averred that authorities may need to consider further measures such as requiring commercial banks to adhere to regulatory limits on FX net open positions.
Other measures, JP Morgan said, include exploring the introduction of a cash reserve ratio on FX deposits as well as the issuance of dollar assets onshore.
On the fiscal side, the financial services firm advised the government to require all taxes to be paid in local currency.
It added that some of the measures may have already been incorporated in the Federal Government’s forthcoming revision of guidelines relating to the operations of the forex market.
JP Morgan also urged oil exporting companies to consider selling forex proceeds on the interbank market, rather than directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The company also said the willing buyer-willing-seller nature of the foreign exchange market is contributing to the extreme volatility in the FX market.
Secure file sharing is the process of transferring files online in a way that protects them from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure. Secure file sharing is important for complying with the information security management system (ISMS) standards, such as ISO 27001, which aim to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.
There are different ways to share files securely online, depending on the type, size, and sensitivity of the files, as well as the preferences and needs of the sender and the receiver. Some common methods are:
Cloud storage services: These are online platforms that allow users to store and share files over the internet. Cloud storage services offer secure file sharing and protection with various security features, such as permission-based access, password protection, encryption, virus scanning, ransomware detection, and more. Some examples of cloud storage services are Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Internxt.
Email attachments: These are files that are attached to an email message and sent to one or more recipients. Email attachments are convenient for sharing small files, but they have some limitations and risks. For example, email attachments may have size limits, may be blocked by spam filters, may be intercepted by hackers, or may contain malware. Therefore, email attachments should be encrypted and scanned before sending or opening them.
File transfer services: These are online tools that allow users to upload and download files from a server. File transfer services are useful for sharing large files that cannot be sent via email or cloud storage. However, file transfer services may also have some drawbacks, such as limited storage time, bandwidth restrictions, or lack of security features. Therefore, file transfer services should be chosen carefully and used with caution. Some examples of file transfer services are WeTransfer, MediaFire, and SecureDocs.
Virtual private networks (VPNs): These are secure connections that create a private network over a public network. VPNs allow users to access and share files securely from any location, as if they were on the same local network. VPNs encrypt the data that is transmitted over the internet, making it unreadable to anyone who intercepts it. VPNs also hide the user’s IP address and location, enhancing their privacy and anonymity. Some examples of VPNs are ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and CyberGhost.
To choose the best way to share files securely online, you should consider the following factors:
The size and type of the files you want to share
The number and identity of the recipients you want to share with
The level of security and privacy you need for your files
The speed and reliability of your internet connection
The cost and convenience of the service you want to use
Physical security is the protection of information and information processing facilities from unauthorized physical access, damage, or interference. Physical security is an essential part of information security management system (ISMS) as it helps prevent or reduce the impact of various threats such as theft, vandalism, fire, flood, or natural disasters.
According to ISO 27001, the international standard for ISMS, physical security should be implemented in accordance with Annex A.11, which covers the following controls:
A.11.1 Secure areas: This control requires the organization to define and establish security perimeters and boundaries for areas that contain sensitive or critical information and information processing facilities. The organization should also control access to these areas using appropriate measures such as locks, alarms, guards, or CCTV cameras.
A.11.2 Equipment: This control requires the organization to protect equipment from environmental threats and hazards, such as dust, water, heat, or power fluctuations. The organization should also prevent unauthorized access to equipment by securing cables, ports, and removable media. Additionally, the organization should ensure proper maintenance and disposal of equipment and media.
A.11.3 Working in secure areas: This control requires the organization to establish rules and procedures for working in secure areas, such as restricting unauthorized visitors, prohibiting unattended equipment or media, and ensuring clear desk and clear screen policies.
Physical security is not only applicable to the organization’s premises but also to any other locations where information and information processing facilities are used or stored, such as home offices, mobile devices, or cloud services. Therefore, the organization should also consider the physical security aspects of its suppliers, partners, and employees who work remotely or travel frequently.
If you want to learn more about physical security in accordance with ISMS, you can check out these web search results:
An ISMS Policy Statement is a document that defines the scope, objectives, and principles of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). An ISMS is a set of policies, procedures, and processes that aim to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information from various threats. An ISMS Policy Statement also demonstrates the commitment of the management to implement, maintain, and improve the ISMS in accordance with the ISO 27001 standard or other relevant frameworks.
Some examples of ISMS Policy Statements are:
CFS: This document states that CFS is committed to securing the information of the organization and her customers from internal or external, deliberate or accidental threats. You can always read more on our page.
GS1 India: This document states that GS1 India is committed to securing the information of the organization and its subscribers from internal or external, deliberate or accidental threats. It also outlines the management’s responsibilities, such as meeting regulatory and legislative requirements, ensuring information security awareness among employees, conducting risk assessments and audits, and providing appropriate resources for the ISMS.
Systematics International Ltd: This document provides an overview of the company, the activities it carries out, and the quality standards it conforms to. It also explains how the company implements the requirements of the ISO 27001 standard, such as defining the scope and context of the ISMS, establishing information security objectives and policies, conducting risk assessments and treatment plans, measuring and improving the ISMS performance, and ensuring internal and external communication.
CoralPay: This document states that CoralPay is committed to the integrity of its information and implements measures to protect the organization’s information through an information security program. It also defines the scope of the ISMS, which covers all information assets, processes, and systems that support the business operations of CoralPay.
I hope this helps you understand what an ISMS Policy Statement is. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask your ISMS Manager
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, has said that Nigeria is exploring ways to improve trade and investment relations with India, even as she is wooing various Indian entrepreneurs who are already doing business in Nigeria.
The minister who is in the company of President Bola Tinubu on the Nigerian team in the ongoing G-20 Summit in India, said this during a bilateral meeting with the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal.
In a statement, Uzoka-Anite said: “Our trip here has so far been fruitful and Nigerians should be proud of our achievement here. We signed an agreement on Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria Limited (InfraCorp) and Invest India. We also signed another agreement between the Nigerian Ministry of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy and the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. We have also secured investment commitments from multinationals like; SkipperSeil Group, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Bharti Enterprises, Indorama Petrochemical Limited amounting to several billions of dollars.”
She further stated: ‘We have more than 130 Indian companies that are active in Nigeria from manufacturing to hospitality to oil and gas, and healthcare sector”.
Meanwhile, the National President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dele Kelvin Oye, has expressed confidence that the newly appointed minister has what it takes to drive the growth of the nation’s real sector, noting that her impressive background and extensive experience have uniquely positioned her to excel in her current role.
“Her previous roles in the banking industry and subnational governance have equipped her with a wealth of knowledge, skills, and expertise that she has applied to the task with exceptional competence,” Oye stated.
With effect from Monday 23, January 2023, rural dwellers and Nigerians living where there are no banking services can swap their old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes for the redesigned notes.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had insisted that anybody who wished to have the redesigned notes must open a bank account and deposit their old notes.
However, the CBN sent out a circular signed by Haruna Mustafa, Director Banking Supervision Department and Musa I. Jimoh, Director, Payment System Management Department to all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Super Agents and Agents.
In the circular at the weekend titled: “Naira redesign policy: CBN launches cash swap programme in rural/underserved areas” the CBN said the programme will enable “citizens in rural areas or those with limited access to formal financial services to exchange old Naira notes for redesigned notes”.
From Monday, old N1000, N500, N200 notes can be exchanged for the newly redesigned notes and/or the existing lower denominations (N100, N50 and N20, etc) which remain legal tender.
Under the new initiative, agents can only exchange a maximum of N10,000 per person. “Amounts above N10,000 may be treated as cash-in deposit into wallets or bank accounts in line with the cashless policy”.
Agents are also required to demand for BVN, NIN, or Voter’s card details of the customers before accepting to exchange more than N10,000.
The new cash swap programme, the CBN said “is also available to anybody without a bank account.
“Agents were urged to open a wallet or account instantly upon request, “leveraging the CBN Tiered KYC Framework”.
This will, the circular, said will “ensure that this category of the populace are able to exchange or deposit their cash seamlessly without taking unnecessary risk or incurring undue cost”.
Agents were authorised to sensitise their customers on opening wallets/bank accounts and the various channels for conducting electronic transactions.
Some designated agents are eligible to collect the redesigned notes from DMBs “in line with the Revised Cash Withdrawal Limit policy”.
Agents have been given permission to “charge cash out fees for the cash swap transactions but prohibited from charging any further commissions to customers for this service”. The apex bank was however silent on how much the agents should charge as cash out fees.
As part of the cash swap programme, agents are expected to “render weekly returns to their designated banks regarding the cash swap transactions, while DMBs will in turn render same to the CBN on a weekly basis”.
The CBN warned that Principals (Super Agents, MMOs, DMBs) will “be held accountable for their agents adherence to the above guidelines”.
It assured rural dwellers and those targeted by the programme that “Cash Swap agents will be readily identifiable in all local governments, particularly those in the rural areas”.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated the enrolment of other financial institutions (OFIs) on the credit risk management system (CRMS).
CBN gave the directive in a circular published on its website and signed by Chibuzo Efobi, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department.
CRMS is the practice of mitigating losses by understanding the adequacy of a bank’s capital and loan loss reserves at any given period.
With this, the CBN and OFIs would be able to track any bank debtor to know if such a debtor owes another institution.
OFIs include development finance institutions (DFIs), microfinance banks, (MFBs), primary mortgage banks (PMBs), and finance companies (FCs).
“All OFls are hereby informed that the provisions of the regulatory guidelines for the redesigned credit risk management system for commercial, merchant, and non-interest banks in Nigeria issued on February 27, 2017 (Ref No. FPR/DIR/GEN/CRM/06/012) and the additional regulatory guidelines for the operation of the redesigned CRMS issued on September 10, 2018 (Ref No. FPR/DIR/GEN/CIR/07/007) have become applicable to all OFls,” the circular reads.
“Accordingly, and more specifically, enforcement of Section 3.1(a) of the guidelines on CRMS that captures the ‘submit before disbursement’ requirement shall commence on August 1, 2022.”
Section 3.1(a) of the regulatory guidelines for the operation of CRMS states that “rendition on the CRMS is required before the disbursement of any loan or credit facility.
“This process of submission does not interfere with any participating bank’s decision to extend a loan or credit to its customer. Consequently, rendition is only required after approval to disburse is given.”
The apex bank also reminded OFIs to ensure that all their customer accounts comply with the 10-digit Nigeria uniform bank account number (NUBAN) format, and are tagged with bank verification number (BVN) or tax identification number (TIN) for individual and non-individual accounts of the account holder and profiled on the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System’s (NIBSS) industry customer accounts database (CAD) not later than June 20, 2022.
“These remain prerequisites for enrolment onto the CRMS,” CBN said.
CBN further warned that failure to comply with the stipulated timelines would attract appropriate sanctions.
Insurance professionals who gathered at this year’s 2022 edition of Fellows’ Hangout in Lagos organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) have been urged to structure their area of specialisation to promote industry awareness.
The Chairman, Examination Committee, CIIN, Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, who spoke on a paper titled: ‘Contributions of Fellows to the growth of the Institute’ at the CIIN 2022 Fellows’ night, said there is a need for collaboration between the institute’s relevant stakeholders to promote insurance awareness and place the industry on the path of growth.
Ladipo-Ajayi tasked insurance fellows to hold meetings regularly and make recommendations that would assist the institute saddled with the responsibility of promoting insurance awareness.
He implored them to join hands with the institute to audit course books; help to supervise examinations and assist in determining skills and knowledge programmes.
Chairman, of the Society of Fellows, Prof. Joseph Irukwu, who was represented by the past President, Sunny Adeda, decried the number of fellows of the institution, which is 121, compared to India with 3,767 insurance fellows.
Adeda beseeched insurance practitioners and the public to embrace the institute’s examinations, stressing that the insurance industry currently has less than 4,000 professionals.
The President, CIIN, Dr. Muftau Oyegunle, charged the institute to determine a high standard of knowledge and skills for persons seeking to become registered members of the professional body, adding that he has strong confidence that this would help grow the industry.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee on Tuesday raised the benchmark interest to 13 per cent. The governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, said the action was to tame the rising inflation rate in the country.
Inflation in Africa’s most populous country soared to 16.8 percent in April, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The soaring rate was driven by fuel price increases and accelerating costs for food, including bread and cereals.
The CBN on Tuesday said that the global economic outlook remains uncertain amid rising commodity prices worsened by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Earlier in the month, a 0.5 percentage points interest rate hike announced by the United States’ Federal Reserve had reverberated around the globe, spurring other economies to hike rates.
The U.S. Fed raised its benchmark interest rate to a target rate range of between 0.75% and 1%, the largest hike in 22 years. The decision followed a 0.25 percentage point increase in March, the first increase since December 2018.
Like the US, other big economies of the world have raised their rates.
Monetary Tool
The interest rate is one of the key tools deployed by central banks across the world to manage the flow of money and productivity in their respective countries. A change in the interest rate could have an effect on macroeconomics and other key economic indicators like consumer spending and borrowing.
In Nigeria, the tool allows the apex bank to effect changes in broad monetary policies designed to facilitate the government’s planned fiscal policy.
Mr Emefiele explained on Tuesday that at the MPC meeting, six out of the 11 members of the committee voted to raise the key rate.
The committee also voted to retain the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR, just as it maintained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27 per cent.
The CBN governor argued that the sharp rise in inflation across both the advanced and emerging market economies has generated growing concerns among central banks across the world, adding that the progressive rise in inflation driven by rising aggregate demands and wage growth has put sustainable pressure on price levels.
Inflationary Pressure
The major determinant of the CBN’s hike in rate on Tuesday was the need to tame rising inflation. Until Tuesday, Nigeria hadn’t altered its interest rate since September 2020 when the CBN reduced the monetary policy rate from 12.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent.
In the midst of the global hike, the nation faces a dicey situation amid efforts to contain inflation, keep domestic prices stable, and ensure economic growth.
Mr Emefiele addressed this concern on Tuesday, thus: “On the need to tighten, MPC feels compelled that tightening would help moderate inflationary trade-off from the steady growth so far recorded and improve real GDP.
“It also feels that tightening would help rein inflation before it assumes the galloping frame considering the rising increase in headline inflation month-on-month.”
By hiking the interest rate to 13%, it is expected that borrowing would become more difficult and consumers would have less money to spend. By implication, amid lower demand among consumers, manufacturers of goods would be wary of raising prices. In effect, all of these would combine to reduce inflationary pressure.
But the hike could also fail to tame inflation if other macroeconomic indicators go wrong.
Manufacturers’ nightmare
A hike in interest rate is often considered manufacturers’ nightmare as it stifles productivity and expansion.
As the apex bank raises its rates to 13%, manufacturers hoping to borrow from banks may have been shut out of the windows due to the higher cost of borrowing amid falling demands.
When the benchmark rate was pegged at 11.5 per cent, banks typically charged manufacturers and other lenders between 12 to 30 per cent on loans. With the hike in rate (13%), the charges could skyrocket.
Earlier in the year, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria had said the average rate at which its members borrowed money from banks was 20.75 per cent and 21.25 per cent in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
“It is important for the CBN to carry out a coordinated reduction in the monetary policy rate and lending rate,” MAN said in a statement.
Employment and Productivity
A hike in interest rate slows down productivity, as manufacturers struggle to keep machinery in operations and pay salaries. Those who look forward to borrowing for expansion and production would have to shelve such ideas in the face of the high cost of accessing funds. Persistent low interest rates favor larger companies because it allows them to increase production, employ more people, and expand. When the interest rate is hiked, the reverse is the effect.
In terms of job creation, a hike in interest rate could have effect—if marginal—on the number of jobs created or lost.
Unemployment Rate in Nigeria averaged 13.55 percent from 2006 until 2020, climbing to an all-time high of 33.30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. Even if the impact may not be significant in the immediate, the hike in interest rate and attendant fall in productivity could throw a number of people out of jobs.
Stocks, Bonds, and Forex
By default, low interest rates can cause the stock market to go up, just as the market records depreciation when the apex bank raises interest rates.
By implication, change in central banks interest rates affect prices of various assets such as bonds, stocks and houses.
The exchange rate can also be affected by the increase in rates, because a hike in a nation’s interest rate relative to other countries makes the domestic currency denominated assets more attractive to foreign and domestic investors. This can lead to a rise in demand for the domestic country’s currency in relation to other foreign currencies.
Meanwhile, as domestic currency strengthens, imported goods would become cheaper while locally produced products would become more expensive in the foreign market. This could as well affect demand, and lead to reduction in foreign exchange earnings with possible impact on balance of payments.
In the case of Tuesday’s increase in Nigeria’s interest rates, it remains uncertain how much this would affect the nation’s foreign exchange in the light of the widespread hike in rates across different economies around the globe.
As of press time Wednesday, numerous central banks across the world have hiked their rates in the wake of the United States’ hike in rate earlier in the month. Like the US’ apex bank, the Bank of England increased interest rates from 0.75% to 1% in order to tackle soaring inflation that is expected to rise above 10% in the coming months. The bank also warned that the cost-of living crisis could plunge the economy into recession in 2022.
Similarly, Australia’s central bank as well as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised their rates to accommodate the changing dynamics.
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