Business
2015 Budget Targets N3trn Revenue, – Okonjo-Iweala
The Minister of Finance,
Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, said the Federal Government was targeting about N3.60 trillion revenue in 2015.
Okonjo-Iweala disclosed this at the public presentation of 2015 budget, last Wednesday in Abuja.
She said that the government expected to earn N1.92 trillion from oil transactions and N1.68 trillion from non-oil.
According to her, this implies a ratio of 53 per cent oil revenue to 47 per cent non-oil revenue to fund an aggregate budget expenditure of N4.36 trillion proposed for 2015 Budget.
The minister explained that the expenditure figure comprised N412 billion for statutory transfers, N943 billion for debt service and N2, 616 billion for recurrent (non-debt).
She said that N634 billion was for capital expenditure, including provision for Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
She disclosed that the government was contemplating short and medium-term measures in expenditure, adding that the focus was on cutting “non-essential and non-developmental’’ expenditures from the budget.
“In the short term, the strategy to curb recurrent expenditure will increasingly rely on implementing the right technologies such as biometrics and digitising government payments,’’ she said.
Okonjo-Iweala also said that through the implementation of IPPIS, the Federal Government saved about N185.4 billion and weeded out 60,450 ghost workers from 359 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), adding that more funds would be saved.
“ We intend to ramp up the work on the platforms in 2015 to improve on our transparency, efficiency and efficiency objectives while saving the much needed resources for reinvestment to benefit all Nigerians,’’ she said.
She stated that in the short-term, the government would institute measures to reduce spending which would save a total of N82.5 billion.
“On overhead expenditures, we propose cuts to International Travels and Training by 50 per cent for all MDAs, saving about N14 billion, while other provisions for Overhead expenditure have been dropped completely, saving about N4 billion.
“Administrative expenditures for Buildings, Equipment, Supplies, etc, MDAs’ provisions for the procurement of administrative supplies and equipment will be cut, saving about N5 billion.
“Procurement and upgrade of buildings were similarly curtailed, saving about N44 billion, while another N76 billion is proposed for reallocation to more impactful programmes of government in the security, health, and education sectors,’’ she said.
The minister said that the government had also commenced partial implementation of its Whitepaper on the rationalisation of agencies based on the ‘’Steve Oronsaye Report’’.
This, she said, would target savings of about N6.5 billion in the 2015 Budget from the rationalisation of some agencies, committees and commissions.
“Nevertheless, medium term measures require greater efforts to cut the cost of governance across all tiers and branches of government and this requires support from the legislature to amend laws underpinning certain agencies.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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