Business
World Bank May Face Funding Constraints
World Bank president Robert Zoellick warned Friday that the international lender could find money running tight within a year if crisis-driven demands on its funding keep up at their record pace and the richer countries fail to stump up more cash.
Speaking to reporters before the start of annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meeting here, Zoellick said the World Bank deployed a record $33 billion in its fiscal year to June 2009 and is already on course to lend a further $40 billion this year.
At present, the World Bank has $100 billion to lend to middle-income countries — the poorest countries get lending from the World Bank by different means and at different rates. If, and when, that money runs dry, the bank may have to resort to rationing.
“By the middle of next year, we will start to face serious constraints,” he said. “We are seeing, as we look into 2011, that we’ll go through that $100 billion and probably beyond.”
He said that the World Bank would be a worthy recipient of funds as it had entered the financial crisis in a well-capitalised position and was implementing reforms to make it more efficient and more self-sufficient, such as increasing the interest rate on loans and increasing the voice of develping countries. The Group of 20 rich and developing countries agreed last week to to increase the share of developing countries in the World Bank by at least 3 percentage points by early next year to 47 per cent.
“I think we have a good case to make,” said Zoellick. “We have the ability for another strong year, but our shareholders, both developed and developing countries, are going to have to calculate how close they want to run us to the edge in terms of being able to support developing countries given an uncertain year in 2010.”
The World Bank seeks to help poor and developing countries with low-interest loans, interest-free credits and grants to pay for investments in education, health care, infrastructure, agriculture and natural resources management.
The pressures on the World Bank have escalated as the financial crisis and the ensuing global recession hit developing countries particularly hard. Prices of commodities such as oil and metals — often their economic mainstay — fell and trade slumped.
Those pressures are evident in the money that the bank is burning through. In the fiscal year to June 2008, it handed out some $13.5 billion — in one week in September 2009 alone, loans totaled just over $7 billion, including a $4.4 billion set of loans to India.
Troops of the Nigerian Navy conducting Operation “Dakatar Da Barawo” confiscated crude oil and other illegally refined products worth N2.7billion in June.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Director of Information, Naval Headquarters, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan in Abuja.
“The various NN platforms deployed for ‘Operation Dakatar Da Barawo, Calm Waters 11’ and Tripartite Joint Border Patrol, have continued to sustain aggressive patrols to curb the menace of crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering.
“Accordingly, several Illegal Refining Sites (IRS), metal storage tanks, wooden boats, dugout pits and ovens were destroyed between June 13 and June 19”.
He said five suspects were and the operatives destroyed 14 Illegal refining sites.
The Navy also said that 80 storage tanks, 22 wooden boats, 40 ovens, two-speed boats, a tanker, truck, barge and a Toyota Sienna car were recovered during the various operations during the period.
Similarly, Navy ship VICTORY in Cross River intercepted and impounded three wooden boats laden with drums of suspected illegally Refined Petrol (PMS) around Ikang channel, suspected to be transported to Cameroon.
However, the Navy said, the boats, as well as the products, were taken into custody.
Ayo-Vaughan said,”Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bonny in Rivers” also intercepted two wooden boats laden with about 400,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil at Iwokiri.
The wooden boats and products, he said, were destroyed.
Similarly, he said, the Navy ship SOROH in Bayelsa intercepted a wooden boat laden with about 60,000 litres of suspected illegally refined AGO.
Subsequently, the boat and contents, he added was destroyed.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared May 2022 Federation Revenue Allocation to the federal, states and local government councils to the tune of N680.783billion.
This is contained in a communiqué issued at the end of June 2022 FAAC meeting held in Abuja.
According to the communiqué, the N680.783billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N385.004billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N198.512billion and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N97.267billion.
In May, 2022, the total deductions for cost of collection were N36.996billion and total deductions for transfers and refunds were N186.672billion.
The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $35.377million.
The communiqué confirmed that from the total distributable revenue of N680.783billion; the Federal Government received N229.563billion, the state governments received N241.824billion and the local government councils received N175.942billion.
The sum of N33.454billion was shared to the relevant states as 13percent derivation revenue.
Gross statutory revenue of N589.952billion was received for the month of May, 2022.
This was lower than the N635.037billion received in the previous month by N45.085billion.
From the N385.004billion distributable statutory revenue, the Federal Government received N185.197billion, the state governments received N93.934billion and the local government councils received N72.419billion.
The sum of N33.454billion was shared to the relevant states as 13percent derivation revenue.
In the month of May, 2022, the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N213.179billion.
This was higher than the N178.825billion available in the month of April, 2022 by N34.354billion.
From the N198.512billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N29.777billion, the state governments received N99.256billion and the local government councils received N69.479billion.
The Federal Government received N14.590billion; the state governments received N48.634billion and the local government councils received N34.043billion from the N97.267billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL).
According to the communiqué, in the month of May, 2022, Companies Income Tax (CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) recorded considerable increases, Import Duty increased marginally while Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and Excise Duties decreased marginally.
Oil and Gas Royalties decreased significantly.
The Federal Government has announced that the successful investors in Nigeria’s 57 marginal oil fields for the 2022 bid round would get their various Petroleum Prospecting Licences, tomorrow.
On May 31, 2021, the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) issued letters of award to investors for the production of crude oil from 57 marginal fields.
Last January, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) announced that a total of 128 awardees emerged as successful bidders in the bid round and had made complete and part payments for signature bonuses in the oil fields.
It also disclosed at the time that 33 awardees did not make payments during the 45 days window given to successful bidders to pay the required signature bonuses for the oil fields and as such had lost their awards to suitably qualified reserve bidders.
Providing updates on the bid round in Abuja, last Saturday, the Chief Executive, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, announced that the successful awardees would get their licences by Tuesday.
He said, “In fulfillment of the promise made early this year, the NUPRC will on Tuesday in Abuja, issue Petroleum Prospecting Licences to successful awardees of marginal fields in the 2020 bid round, pursuant to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
“It will also unveil the implementation template for the host communities’ development trust for commencement of the provisions under Section 235 of the PIA, 2021, to positively impact against restiveness in the host communities.”
Komolafe said implementing the development trust would guarantee seamless operations, boost investors’ confidence and provide enabling environment for sustainable improvement of the country’s hydrocarbon resources.
“These will mark the conclusion of some of the most urgent and critical tasks inherited by the commission when it was inaugurated in October, 2021, after the signing into law of the PIA 2021,” he stated.
The commission had in March this year informed all participants in the 2020 marginal field bid round programme that it had put all necessary machinery in place to progress the bid round exercise to conclusion in line with the PIA 2021.
In furtherance of that resolution, the commission constituted an in-house work team to distill and address the concerns of awardees with a view to close out issues affecting multiple awardees per asset and formation of Special Purpose Vehicles by awardees in line with the respective letters of award.
“Awardees were therefore enjoined to avail themselves of the resolution mechanism provided by the commission in the overriding national interest,” Komolafe stated.
He added, “The successful coordination and resolution of the issues culminated in the emergence of the successful awardees that would be handed over licences on Tuesday.”
-
Business4 days agoNigerians Collect 3m Passports From 2019-2022 – Aregbesola
-
Business4 days agoBuhari Seeks UK, EU Countries’ Partnership On Green Energy Policy
-
Business4 days agoStates Lose N19bn Oil, Gas Revenues In 2022 – World Bank
-
Business4 days agoNDLEA, NAGAFF Collaborate Against Illicit Drug Importation
-
Sports4 days ago
Nigeria Others Battle For Relay Tickets In Benin
-
Politics4 days agoWhat Wike Brings To The Party
-
Politics4 days agoSenate Wades Into CJN, S’Court Justices’ Feud
-
Politics4 days ago2023: Utomi Calls For Mass Citizens’ Action