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CBN Explains Challenges In Monetary, Fiscal Sector

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says excess volatility in exchange rates creates uncertainty and risk for economic agents and has devastating effects on macro economics.
Mr Moses Tule, Director, Monetary Policy Department, Mr. Moses Tule said this at a three-day National Treasury Workshop organised by Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation  in Abuja, yesterday.
He spoke on “ Issues, challenges and opportunities in managing Nigeria’s monetary and fiscal sector”.
represented by Mr Jibrin Musa of same department, he said that maintaining relatively stable exchange rate was critical for both internal and external balance and growth of the economy.
“Another key challenge to the indirect implementation of monetary policy is the unreliability of forecasts for fiscal revenue and expenditure.
“This is largely attributed to volatile oil output and price which is the major contributor of fiscal revenues.
“ Consequently, fiscal operations become largely irresponsive to traditional liquidity management approaches,” he said.
According to him, the state of the existing payment system infrastructure is another challenge to liquidity management in Nigeria.
He said that existing infrastructure had limited reach, depth and credibility, adding that bank branch and population ratio were inadequate for effective flow of liquidity in the Nigerian economy.
“ The financial system in Nigeria is largely structured along the dividing lines of urban and rural and formal and informal dichotomy.
“This, in addition to low level of financial literacy, impedes the responsiveness of market-based liquidity management initiatives,” he added.
He noted that the apex bank, in spite of the challenges, had constantly fine-tuned operations of the financial system, to ensure that it provided a platform for the transmission of monetary policy.
This, he said, brought about improvement in the inter bank and foreign exchange markets and thus, created competition among banks.
“it also includes reaching the population in rural areas that previously had no access to banking services through financial literacy advocacy, cashless policy, mobile and agent banking framework.
“This helps to spread technology and financial services to non-banked areas,” he said
He added that CBN was developing appropriate macroeconomic policy coordination platform that would ensure that government’s cash management was consistent with the CBN’s overall liquidity management.
On challenges with the fiscal sector, he said oil price slump and threat to fiscal revenues; fiscal leakages, insecurity, infrastructure gaps and uncooperative attitude of tax payers were major challenges.
“ In Nigeria, there is widespread apathy towards the payment of tax, particularly in situations where the tax payer is expected to file such returns himself.
“The Pay-As-You-Go system has greatly enhanced tax collection among corporate organisation’s and a few registered businesses.
“This situation is worse in the large informal sector where enormous tax revenues could be obtained but has not been adequately captured in formal records,” he said
In spite these challenges, he said that there were avenues that could be used to tackle the root causes.
This, he said, included CBN and Ministry of Finance enhanced collaboration to devise newer ways to achieve efficient utilisation of government deposits.
He added that in collaborating, it should be ensured that government borrowing did not crowd out private sector.
He further said that the monetary and fiscal authorities should create a technical committee on macroeconomic management to agree on common macroeconomic objectives and forecast of key macroeconomic variables for policy decisions.

Rivers State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon Chuma C. Chinye (left) presenting an award to the Vice Chairman, Moni Pulo, Mrs Seinye Lulu Briggs, during Garden City Corporate Awards, organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Port Harcourt.                                                                               Photo: Egberi Sampson

Rivers State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon Chuma C. Chinye (left) presenting an award to the Vice Chairman, Moni Pulo, Mrs Seinye Lulu Briggs, during Garden City Corporate Awards, organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Port Harcourt. Photo: Egberi Sampson

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NPA Assures On Staff Welfare 

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The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, has said the management will continue to accompany its port infrastructure  and equipment  modernization drive  with the development of the welfare of its personnel.
Dantsoho made the disclosure recently while responding to the commendation by the Maritime Workers Union (MWUN) and the senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASGOC) on the  clearing  of the age-long problem of employee stagnation, when the union paid him a courtesy visit at the Authority’s headquarters in Lagos.
A Statement by NPA’s General Manager Corporate & Strategic Communications, Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara, quoted Dantsoho as saying,  “our Port infrastructure and equipment modernization drive will go hand-in-hand with continuous staff welfare improvement”.
The NPA MD disclosed that human capital development constitutes the key strategy for creating and sustaining superior performance under his watch, adding that “talent development constitutes a critical success factor for the actualization of the big hairy audacious goals we have set for ourselves especially in the area of Port competitiveness.
“The only way we can meet and indeed exceed stakeholders’ expectations is to deepen the competencies of our human resources assets and boosting their morale.”
Speaking further, Dantsoho commended the Honourable Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for approving the strategic proposal of the Dantsoho-led Management team that solved the over a decade-long problem of lack of promotion that had fuelled industrial disharmony.
“I must specially appreciate our amiable Minister for graciously approving the multi-pronged stratagem we deployed that cleared all outstanding cases of employee stagnation by conducting examinations in one fell swoop and instituted timelines to forestall a recurrence of such anomaly”, he sad.
Speaking on behalf of the joint maritime labour unions, the President  of Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations & Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Comrade Bodunde stated, “In addition to clearance of the backlog of stagnated promotions, we also wish to express our appreciation for the increase in productivity bonuses, provision of end-of-year welfare packages for staff, and the revision of the Financial Guide to the Condition of Service, which now addresses our members’ concerns about inflationary pressures.”
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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ANLCA Chieftain Emerges FELCBA’s VP

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National Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Elder Olumide Fakanlu, has been elected Vice President of the Federation of ECOWAS Licensed Customs Brokers Association (FELCBA).
The election took place during the FELCBA Congress, held from Tuesday, June 17th to Thursday, June 19th, 2025, in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Fakanlu’s emergence as Vice President marks a significant achievement for Nigeria within the regional customs brokerage community.
Apart from Fakanlu, Secretary of the Seme Chapter of ANLCA, Austin Nwosu, was also elected, securing the role of Secretary of Relations with Institutions.
The Nigerian delegation played an active role in the congress, with Michael Ebeatu nominated as a member of the electoral officer team, ensuring a fair and transparent election process.
The three-day congress concluded with delegates undertaking a visit to the Sierra Leone Port, offering insights into the host nation’s maritime operations, followed by a recreational trip to the Tokeh Beach.
The newly elected executives are expected to lead FELCBA in its efforts to harmonize customs brokerage practices, promote trade facilitation, and advocate for the interests of licensed customs brokers across the ECOWAS sub-region.
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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NSC, Police Boost Partnership On Port Enforcement 

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In a bid to enhance more enforcement in the nation’s Port, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has reaffirmed its commitment to stronger inter-agency collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The Council said the collaboration is aimed at enhancing stronger enforcement, compliance and improve operational efficiency across Nigeria’s ports.
Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of  NSC, Dr. Pius Akutah, made this known during a visit to the  Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The visit, which he said, focused on strengthening institutional synergy, comes in the wake of growing responsibilities for the NSC under the newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
Akutah emphasized the critical role of security agencies in supporting port operations and ensuring regulatory compliance.
He called for the posting of police officers to assist the Council’s monitoring and enforcement teams at key port locations including Lagos, Warri, Onne, Port Harcourt, and Calabar.
“The posting will complement the activities of our revived task teams and enhance our ability to enforce standards across the maritime logistics chain”, he said.
Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Egbetokun, assured the Council of the Force’s readiness to continue supporting the growth of the maritime sector.
The IGP acknowledged that compliance enforcement is essential to the successful implementation of Nigeria’s Blue Economy objectives.
“The NSC and NPF are expected to deepen collaboration in the months ahead, with a shared focus on building a secure, efficient, and competitive port environment”, to the IGP emphasized.
Chinedu Wosu
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