Equity Market Performance
The NSE All-Share Index (ASI) which tracks the general market movement of all listed equities on the NSE, including those listed on the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM), depreciated by 1.74% at the end of the week, closing at 38,648.48 when compared to its closing unit of 39,331.61 in the prior week. This fall cumulated to a total year-to-date depreciation of 4.03% of the Index.
Besides the fall in the NSE ASI, other indices in the market followed a similar trend except for the following indices which saw some marginal increase, and the NSE Sovereign Bond Index which closed flat at the end of the week:
The Pension Funds Administrators, PFAs, invested N8.14tn of the total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme in the Federal Government’s securities as of the end of November.
The National Pension Commission (PENCOM) disclosed this in its unaudited report on pension fund portfolio, which was obtained by Biz Watch Nigeria on Friday.
This amount represented 66.23 per cent of the total pension fund available on the contributory pension scheme.
According to the report, the total funds under the CPS stood at N12.29tn during the period under review.
Out of the Federal Government securities, N7.38tn was invested in FGN bonds; N642.0bn in treasury bills; N6.3bn in agency bonds (NMRC & FMBN); N100.07bn in sukuk bonds; and N11.81bn in green bonds.
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The President. Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), laying the 2021 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday (8/10/20). Photo: Olatunji Obasa
Nike Popoola, Okechukwu Nnodim and Temiloluwa O’Peters
Experts have expressed worry over the plan of the Federal Government to borrow N5.39tn to finance the funding gap in the 2021 budget.
According to the 2021 Appropriation Act which was recently signed into law by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Government also expects to realise N205.15bn from privatisation proceeds.
While he signed the 2021 budget, the President had highlighted both the deficit and the plan to borrow to fill the gap between the revenues the government plans to generate and the N13.59tn budget.
Federal Secretariat, Abuja
As of August 31, 2020, the pension assets under the management of PFAs were worth N11.35 trillion.
Governors have declared interest to borrow from the fund, but the Pension Reform Act, 2014 (PRA, 2014) prohibits such borrowing.
Section 89, subsection 1, paragraph C of the PRA, 2014, provides that a PFA shall not “apply any pension fund assets under its management by way of loans and credits or as collateral for any loan taken by a holder of retirement savings account or any person whatsoever.”
Similarly, section 2, subsection 6 of the 2019 Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets issued by PenCom provides that “A PFA shall not engage in borrowing or lending of pension fund assets.”