Trump said the US would sell a $5 million ‘gold card’ to wealthy foreigners
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the US will sell a new “gold card” to wealthy foreigners. This card will give them the right to live and work in America and offer a path to citizenship for a $5 million fee.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “You have a green card. This is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s going to give you green card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.”
Trump said they will start selling these cards in about two weeks and suggested millions could be sold.
South Korea’s fertility rate rose for the first time in nine years
South Korea’s fertility rate increased for the first time in nine years, giving some positive news to policymakers who have increased childcare support in one of the world’s fastest-ageing countries.
The number of babies expected per woman in a lifetime rose to 0.75 last year from 0.72 in 2023, according to data released Wednesday by South Korea’s national statistics office. While South Korea still has the world’s lowest fertility rate, this is the first year-on-year increase since 2015, when the rate was 1.24.
The small increase in the fertility rate happened after marriages increased in 2023 for the first time in more than ten years. This increase was mainly from people born in the early 1990s, a time when South Korea experienced a higher number of births.
Israeli warplanes struck south of Damascus
Israeli warplanes attacked a town south of Syria’s capital as well as the southern province of Daraa late on Tuesday, according to residents, security sources and local broadcaster Syria TV.
Planes struck the town of Kisweh about 20 kilometres south of Damascus, a Syrian security source and Syria TV reported. The security source said a military site was targeted, but didn’t give more details.
The Israeli military later said in a statement that it attacked military targets in southern Syria, including headquarters and sites they claimed contained weapons.
“The Air Force is attacking strongly in southern Syria as part of the new policy we have defined of pacifying southern Syria – and the message is clear: we will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s spokesperson said in a statement.
He added: “Any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country’s terrorist organizations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria – will be met with fire.”
FGN bond auction recorded N1.63tn subscriptions
The Federal Government’s bond auction for February saw a big jump in investor demand, with total subscriptions reaching N1.63 trillion. This is much higher than the N670.94 billion recorded in January.
This strong increase in demand led to higher allotments while yields decreased, showing that investors have more confidence in Nigeria’s debt market. This information comes from the auction result that the Debt Management Office published on its website on Tuesday.
The DMO conducted the auction on February 24, reopening the 19.30 per cent FGN APR 2029 (five-year bond) and the 18.50 per cent FGN FEB 2031 (seven-year bond).
Unlike January’s auction, which included a 10-year bond, the February auction only offered two types of bonds.
The government initially offered a total of N350 billion for both bonds – N200 billion for the five-year bond and N150 billion for the seven-year bond.
However, because of the high demand, the total amount actually given out jumped to N910.39 billion, which exceeded both the initial offer and the total amount given out in January.
The Senate accused the CBN of frustrating the N30tn Ways and Means probe
The Senate ad hoc Committee investigating the Ways and Means facility provided to the Federal Government from 2015 to 2023 has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria of blocking its efforts to determine how the loans were used.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Isah Jibrin, made this accusation after receiving an interim report from its consultants during a meeting on Tuesday evening.
Senator Jibrin claimed that the CBN had refused to provide the necessary documents to the consultants, preventing them from completing their tasks.
However, the Director of Banking Services and CBN representative, Hamisu Abdullahi, told the Senate panel that the central bank had provided all the requested documents.
But Jibrin said, “None of the documents was submitted to us. We will not allow you to attend the next meeting because you have been coming here for the same reason.
“The least person that will attend the next meeting should be a deputy governor of CBN. What you are telling us is not the truth. We have not received the documents. I don’t want to deceive the public here.”
