Trouble for UK Economy as Pound Pummels After UK Election Upset

Pound pummeled by UK election upset

 

Britain’s pound took a battering on Friday after Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in elections, potentially disrupting Brexit negotiations.

 

Sterling fell two per cent to 1.2698 dollars after sliding as much as 2.5 per cent to 1.2636 dollars in early European trade “GBP=D4”, its weakest level since April 18.

 

May faced calls to quit after her election gamble to win a stronger mandate backfired, leaving no single party with a clear claim to power just 10 days before the start of negotiations on Britain’s divorce from the European Union.

 

She is due to make a speech at 0900 GMT.

 

“The market wants more clarity now in terms of who is going to be Prime Minister, what form the government is going to take and ultimately how all that feeds through into upcoming Brexit negotiations,” said currency strategist Lee Hardman in London.

 

“In the near term the increased political uncertainty and the risk of more disorderly Brexit negotiations should enforce pound weakness.”

 

Reactions in other major currencies such as the dollar, euro and yen were limited.

 

They had already largely shrugged off Thursday’s testimony by former FBI director James Comey, which had been seen as the week’s other big event.

“Other currencies, like dollar/yen, are not reacting much as it is a more domestic affair this time, unlike in 2016’s Brexit vote,” said Koji Fukaya, president at FPG Securities in Tokyo.

“The focus for the broader currency market will now shift toward the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Monday.”

 

The Fed is widely expected to hike interest rates after it ends a two-day meeting on Wednesday, and the focus is on whether it would leave the door open for further monetary tightening in the months to come.

 

It had retreated to a seven-month low of 96.511 midweek when caution ahead of Comey’s testimony and the British election drove U.S. yields to lowest levels since November. 

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Nigeria’s Economy Recovering Gradually, Says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said the nation’s economy which is currently in recession was recovering gradually.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke while receiving the outgoing Ambassador of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Fahad Bin Abdullah Sefyan, in a farewell audience at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“Noting that the last farming season was quite good, and the Nigerian economy was gradually reviving, President Buhari said the two countries would have more areas to collaborate in future,” the statement read.

Buhari noted that the relationship between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia is a mutually beneficial one, which should grow stronger in the years to come.

He observed that the relationship between the countries was strong, adding that apart from visiting Mecca and Medina for religious reasons, a lot of Nigerians are in Saudi Arabian universities.

“I quite appreciate the relationship between the two countries,” the President said.

Sefyan, who spent 20 months on tour of duty, said he loved it in Nigeria and would have wanted to stay for longer, if not that he was now due for retirement.

He commended Buhari’s visit to Saudi Arabia in February, last year, urging that there should be reciprocal visits between the leaders of both countries.

On the security situation in Nigeria, the outgoing Ambassador told the President, “I think you are doing very well, Your Excellency. We know what you have done with Boko Haram, and we applaud you.”

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Buhari's Government Has Worsened Nigeria's Economy - Prof. Soludo

A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo has lambasted the Federal Government for bringing up policies that have worsened the living condition of Nigerians.

Former CBN Governor, Charles Chukwuma Soludo

 

The Government of President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of worsening Nigeria's economy and plunging many Nigerians into greater hardship by former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo.

 

Soludo spoke in Enugu at an interactive Forum, titled “Big Ideas Podium”, which was organized by the African Heritage Institution. The forum was chaired by a former Governor of Cross Rivers State, Donald Duke.

 

He said, “Nigeria is now, some say a fragile state, some say a failed state; it is not going to be a tea-party to come out but unfortuately, we are not taking it serious.

“Nigeria is not just in recession but in a massive economic compression; it will be a miracle for the present APC administration to return this country to the dollar size it met in May 29, 2015, if it stays for 8 years, that’s till 2023.

“It is business as usual; propaganda, lies, double-speak. Current government is fighting corruption, insecurity, but we say to them, enough of the blame gain.

“They inherited a bad situation but they have made it several times worst; getting us out here is not a tea-party like I said before. Nigerians should rise in unity; it should no longer be ‘let them’; only united citizens can rescue Nigeria out of this position.”

 

He urged the masses the take the government into account for all the promises made before the election.

“My idea is that of Citizen United; we won’t get the leadership that we deserve; we won’t get the leadership that we want; we will get the leadership that we demand.

“They gave us manifestoes, promised a lot and we said ‘yea’; how many have gone back to check how far them are implementing those promises; if any party implements 25 percent of its manifesto, Nigeria will get better.

“If you check any State run by APC, PDP or APGA, the three parties that have Governors, can you see spot any difference in any of those States that will distinguish one party from another, it is the same.

“APC said in its manifesto that it will restructure Nigeria, that Nigeria was not one, but after election, has anybody heard about it (restructuring) again? They control 23 States and the National Assembly, all they need is one more State to get the required 2/3; so they have what it takes, but they are not talking about it again.

“If we don’t rise to hold them by the jugular, Nigeria cannot go anywhere. We have to start preparing for a post-oil economy; insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over again and expect different result”, he further stated.

 

Soludo, who also faulted the clamour for Igbo presidency described it as an “unnecessary distracton”, stressing that you could have the President and his Vice as well as all the ministers come from one village “but the life of all the people in the that village will not move from point A to point B.

 

The ex-CBN boss further noted that during the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, several members of the economic team, including the finance minister, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker of the House of Reps, SGF, all came from the South-East, “but not one motorable federal highway in Igbo land.

 

“We want a new Nigeria where it does not matter where the president comes from; we want to set a structure where each citizen will work hard, where security is guaranteed.”

 

Soludo further lambasted the Federal Government for unleashing security agencies on various protesters across the country, especially the pro-Biafra groups, insisting that they had every right under the Constitution to express their feelings.

 

According to him, “people have right under the Constitution to protest within the law; the duty of the police is to give the protesters protection. Killing innocent citizens simply because they expressed their feelings is wrong; no citizen of Nigeria should be killed for no just cause; we don’t condone violence, but government should protect its people; once you remove freedom of expression, democracy is gone.”

 

Other speakers at the event included Prof. Akpan Ekpo and Prof. Osita Ogbu, a former economic adviser to then president Olusegun Obasanjo. 

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Lagos Emerges Fifth Largest Economy in Africa

The prosperous economy of Lagos has received international recognition in the African continent's ratings.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode

 

Lagos State has emerged as the fifth largest economy in Africa, consequent upon which, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, disclosed that his administration is in the process of setting up an Economic Management Team, EMT, comprising distinguished individuals from the private sector and the public sector to manage and improve the feat.

Ambode spoke on Tuesday at the Lagos House in Ikeja when he received a delegation from the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce on courtesy visit, disclosing that the emergence of Lagos as Africa’s fifth largest economy was very instructive according to the DailyPost.

He promised that his government would explore synergy with private sector with the view to catapult the State into a true global city-state in the true sense of the word.

Ambode said: “Very soon we would be setting up what we would refer to as an Economic Management Team to drive the fifth largest economy, because that’s the way we need to envision ourself and this Economic Management Team will involve nominees from the Chambers and other people in the private sector so that we can collaborate because majorly this economy is driven by the private sector."

“Our duty is to create an enabling environment and fuse all that together."

 

“I think that synergy can just catapult Lagos into that global city-state that we want it to be.”
 

The governor explained that his decision to come up with the Office of Oversees Affairs and Investment, otherwise known as Lagos Global, was part of efforts at encouraging investment in Lagos both from within and outside, among many other initiatives of the present administration.

His words: “I think it is very instructive to clearly state that the economy of Lagos is in the hands of the private sector and beyond the fact that Lagos is now the fifth largest economy in Africa, the drive to take Nigeria out of recession actually resides in the private sector and willingness on the part of the public sector.

“Because our economy is in the hands of the private sector and we are willing to allow them drive it, that is why we have decided to formulate policies and decisions that will make the private sector to thrive in this State and that is why in the last 18 months, we have been running this administration on a tripod of security, job opportunities and infrastructure development.”

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Economic Recession or Poverty? Married Man Arrested for Stealing Plantain in Akwa Ibom (Photos)

Due to the economic recession and hardship in the land, a married man has landed in trouble after he was caught stealing plantain in Akwa Ibom State.

Victor Ekpo Okon

 

The hunger in the land has reportedly forced a married man to steal a bunch of plantain in Afaha Atai village, Akwa Ibom.

 

 

The man identified as Victor Ekpo Okon was caught red handed on Thursday. The married man who has five children was handed over to men of Nigerian Police Force who took him away in handcuffs.  

 

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Hmm, Even Chicken Is Affected By The Economy Of Nigeria. (Read more)

Due to the high increase in price of ckicken meals, for example 100kg of maize feed which was #6000 in April 2016, is now #12000 that shows an 100% rise in the price and also fish meals which is another important poultry feeds which was once #500 is now sold for #800 which shows a 60% increase in the price, and this has led farmers to ration the food of their chicken.

This also has led to the increase in price of the by product of these live stock, for example the price of create of egg was once #600 is now #650 and #700 by the size you want. The rationing of food by the farmers has led to malnutrition which does not allow hens to lay adequate egg.

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