Banks Adopt ‘Survival’ Strategies on Frail Macro Environment Obinna Chima The tough macroeconomic environment is obviously taking its toll on commercial banks as well as other financial institutions with most of them adopting
various strategies to remain afloat. The impact of the tough operating environment clearly manifested in the recently released half year results posted by the banks, which were largely below market
expectation, even though some banks did well. Nigeria’s economy contracted by 2.06 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2016, as against the 2.4 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015,
thus confirming the economy to be in a recession. The deepening of Nigeria’s economic decline was largely due to the troubled oil and gas sector, which contracted by eight per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2016,
as against the 6.8 per cent in the comparable period in 2015. Owing to this, from downsizing of workforce, to freezing staff promotion, giving staff targets, reduction of salaries and other emolument, as well
as embarking on aggressive deposit mobilisation by deploying more staff into market-facing units, banks are doing all to ensure that they improve their revenue. Continued on page 9
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Faced With Insider Arms Deals in North East, Military Ups the Ante in N’Delta Militants warn residents to vacate communities rigged with explosives
Senator Iroegbu in Abuja, Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba and Sylvester Idowu in Warri Faced with increasing insider arms deals with insurgents in the North East of the country, the Nigerian military is not taking chances as it stepped up its game in the Niger
Delta at the weekend, rolling out its armoured tanks and other sophisticated military hardware in a show of force that seeks to discourage militants and criminal elements from perpetrating further violence in the region. Continued on page 9
CBN Calls for Calm as PDP Blames Buhari for Recession
Labour demands wage increase, prompt payment of salary
Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Paul Obi in Abujaand Amby Uneze inOwerri As the economic recession bites harder, spelling acute hardship for Nigerians, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday sought
to downplay rising worries over their wellbeing and asked the people to be calm as the economy would soon rebound. The bank spoke through Continued on page 8
DSS Arrests Boko Haram IED Specialist, Others in Kano… Page 8
FOR BETTER HEALTHCARE
L-R: United Kingdom Minister for International Development, Mr James Wharton: Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai; his Deputy, Mr. Barnabas Bala Bantex; and Dr. Ayo Ajayi of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at the Signing of the Memorandum idris egaji of Understanding (MoU) on Strengthening Primary Healthcare System, in Kaduna State… weekend