Economy | Page 7 of 26 | African News Today

Why We Continue To Borrow – Lai Mohammed

24Sep

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

Why We Continue To Borrow – Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government on Thursday descended on critics of its frequent request for fresh loans describing them as insincere. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, spoke for the government during a town hall meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State to address vandalism of power and telecommunications infrastructure. Mohammed said the critics were members of previous administrations who ‘performed abysmally in terms of modernizing our infrastructure, even when they served at a time when our earnings were multiples of what we get today.” He said that the government was not borrowing for recurrent expenditure or to pay salaries but to build world-class infrastructure that would benefit generations of Nigerians. According to him, based on the two town hall meetings held i...

Naira Dips To 575/$ two Days After Aboki FX Update Suspension

20Sep

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Naira Dips To 575/$ two Days After Aboki FX Update Suspension

The dollar exchanged for between N572 and N575 in different parts of the country on Monday barely two days after an online platform, Aboki FX, stopped providing updates on the exchange rate. A visit by Punch to the ever-busy Wuse Zone 4 which is the hub of bureau de change operators in Abuja, observed that the dollar was sold for N574 as opposed to the N570 it was sold for on Friday. In Lagos, the dollar was sold at N572 while in Kano it was N575 as of 3pm on Monday. The pound was sold for N780 as opposed to N770 last The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, had accused the online foreign exchange update platform, Aboxi FX, of manipulating the forex market. Emefiele, had said the bank would shut down the operations of Aboki FX which it described as illeg...

FG recorded N150.36bn fiscal deficit in April- CBN

19Sep

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

FG recorded N150.36bn fiscal deficit in April- CBN

The Federal Government recorded a fiscal deficit of N150.36bn in April, after recording an aggregate expenditure of N559.67bn and retained revenue of N409.31bn. Figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s April report on ‘Fiscal operations of the Federal Government’ revealed on Saturday. Part of the report read “Federation revenue rose by 28.2 per cent in April 2021 to N1.12tn, relative to N862.79bn in March 2021, owing to improved non-oil earnings. “However, the retained revenue of the Federal Government of Nigeria at N409.31bn, was 38.5 per cent below target. Read Also: Insurgency: FG Commences Rebuilding Of Schools In Yobe “Similarly, the provisional aggregate expenditure of the FGN, at N559.67bn, was 50.6 per cent below the budget benchmark and 59.4 per cent shor...

VAT: FIRS Risk Losing N92bn Revenue To States

14Sep

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

VAT: FIRS Risk Losing N92bn Revenue To States

The Federal Inland Revenue Service may lose about N92bn which it is expected to earn as cost of collection if the Appeal Court upholds the judgement of the Federal High Court asking states government to collect Value Added Tax in their domain. The law setting up the FIRS allows the agency to a percentage, as determined by the National Assembly, as its cost of revenue collection from non-oil taxes before remitting same into the federation account. A report on FIRS official website revealed that the service collects four per cent as the cost of collection for non-oil revenue collected. The FIRS is one of the agencies of the government that generates revenue for sharing by the three tiers of government. See Also: FG’s GDP Growth Insignificant With Rising Poverty – Peter Obi Oth...

FG’s GDP Growth Insignificant With Rising Poverty – Peter Obi

13Sep

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

FG’s GDP Growth Insignificant With Rising Poverty – Peter Obi

The former governor of Anambra State and vice-presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 general elections, Peter Obi, has undermined the significance of the latest National Bureau of Statistics report which showed that the country’s economy has recorded a five per cent growth to Gross Domestic Product growth. Obi noted that the growth was insignificant with rising poverty across the country. He spoke on Sunday evening when he featured on a Channels Television programme, ‘Politics Today’. He specifically said rather than celebrating growth to GDP, which had no impact on the citizenry, the Federal Government should stop borrowing for consumption and face investment. The former governor of Anambra State said the fact that the Federal Government had ...

FG To Borrow $3 Billion Via Eurobonds In October

11Sep

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

FG To Borrow $3 Billion Via Eurobonds In October

The Federal Government has disclosed plans to raise $3bn from Eurobond sales in the second week of October. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed this during an interview on Bloomberg TV on Thursday said that the $3bn constituted half of the amount needed from external borrowings to fund the 2021 budget deficit. Ahmed said, “We should be going to the market in the second week of October. The government has approved to raise $6.1bn from overseas. So we are looking at doing half of that in the Eurobond market and the other half from bilateral and multilateral sources. Depending on how the market goes, maybe we can do a little bit more.’’ The minister noted that the Federal Government was targeting single-digit inflation by 2023. Sh...

SEC Creates A Special Division To Study The Crypto Market

7Sep

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

SEC Creates A Special Division To Study The Crypto Market

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that it has now set up a department that will study the crypto market in order to create regulatory policies for the sector. The agency’s Director-General, Lamido Yuguda, revealed this development during a virtual interview with Reuters on Thursday in Abuja. “We are looking at this market closely to see how we can bring out regulations that will help investors protect their investment in blockchain,’’ Yuguda said. The commission has sought to regulate the crypto market on the premise that crypto trading is equally a security transaction. According to Yuguda, the regulation will be fully frontal once crypto transactions are allowed back into the Nigerian banking system. See Also: Appeal Court Joins Lagos in FIRS Appeal Over VAT C...

FG Disburses ₦57 Billion To 1 Million Nigerians, Businesses

1Sep

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

FG Disburses ₦57 Billion To 1 Million Nigerians, Businesses

The Federal Government has disbursed N56,842,780,000 to 1,079,323 persons and businesses under the Survival Fund program. The companies include those registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Maryam Katagum, Chairperson of the Survival Fund Steering Committee, gave the details at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja. Katagum, the Minister of State, Industry Trade and Investment, also flagged off the Guaranteed Off-take Scheme, with 50,032 beneficiaries already shortlisted. See Also: FG Saved One Million Jobs, Sustained 150,000 SMEs — Osinbajo The official said the scheme was the last track of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Survival Fund. The target is 100,000 beneficiaries but as at the time the portal closed, only 65,976 applications were ...

Osinbajo Inaugurates Shoe-Manufacturing Hub In Anambra

25Aug

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

Osinbajo Inaugurates Shoe-Manufacturing Hub In Anambra

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday inaugurated an ultra-modern industrial shoe-making hub equipped with modern technology at Nkwelle Ezunaka Village in Anambra. In a speech at the event, Mr. Osinbajo described the complex as a “one-stop-shop digital leather and industrial hub”. He said the complex had the capacity to produce shoes that would compare favourably with those produced in Europe. According to the vice president, the project represents the nerve centre of the Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria He said the Federal Government was fully committed to improving commercial and economic environment and willing to complete all its ongoing projects in the South-East. The complex was jointly equipped by the federal government in conjunction with Anambra...

Obasanjo Decries Nigeria’s Rising Debts, Low FDI

22Aug

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

Obasanjo Decries Nigeria’s Rising Debts, Low FDI

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed worry over the way states and the Federal Government are accumulating debts as well as over the low foreign direct investment into the country. Obasanjo spoke on Thursday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, when he hosted some members of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, led by its Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. At the meeting, Obasanjo was said to have expressed worry about the way the country had been busy accruing debts by borrowing money all over the world. While in office, the former president visited the country’s creditors and was able to get debt forgiveness for the country. However, since assuming office six years ago, the regime of the President, Major G...