Business

CBN Explains Challenges In Monetary, Fiscal Sector

Published

10 years ago

January 28, 2015

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

Business

NCDMB, Partners Sweetcrude On Inaugural Nigerian Content Awards

Published

3 days ago

May 12, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), in partnership with a firm, Sweetcrude Ltd., has announced detailed selection criteria for the inaugural “Champions of Nigerian Content Awards”, designed to honor outstanding contributions to local content development in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The Tide learnt that the event, scheduled to hold 21st May, 2025, at the NCDMB’S content tower headquarters in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, will recognize individuals and organizations that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing Nigerian Content in 2024.
The Tide further gathered that the ceremony will coincide with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), which promises to spotlighting industry excellence and contributions to national economic transformation.
A statement by the Board’s Directorate of Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination says the event has 12 Award Categories, which include, “Nigerian Content Icon of the Year”, “Nigerian Content Lifetime Achievement Award”, “Nigerian Content International Upstream Operator of the year”, and the “Nigerian Content Independent Upstream Operator of the year”.
Others are, “Nigerian Content Midstream Operator of the year”, “Nigerian Content Downstream Operator of the year”, “Nigerian Content International Service Company of the year”, Nigerian Content Indigenous Service Company of the year”, and the “Nigerian Content Innovator of the year”.
Also included are, “Nigerian Content Financial Services Provider of the year”, “Nigerian Content Media Organization of the year”, and “Women in Leadership Award for Promoting Gender Equality and Empowerment”.
According to the NCDMB, the criteria for oil and gas operators will include key and empirical benchmarks such as Production output for crude oil and gas volumes, Compliance with Nigerian Content Plans (NCPs) and Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates (NCCCs).
Other criteria are adherence to NOGICD Act reporting requirements, such as submission of Nigerian Content Performance Reports and Employment & Training Plans.
The Board’s statement added that similar criteria will apply to financial institutions, media organizations, and individuals, ensuring a transparent and merit-based selection process.
“Winners for the Nigerian Content Icon of the Year, Innovator of the Year, and Women in Leadership Award will also be selected based on measurable performance indicators.

“The Advisory Committee of Industry Titans will Oversee the process to uphold the prestige of awards. The Committee consist of distinguished experts set up to oversee nominations and validate winners”, the NCDMB said.

Members of the committee, according to the Board, include: Pioneer Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Dr. Ernest Nwapa; Secretary-General, African Petroleum Producers Organization, Dr. Omar Farouk; and former Zonal Operations Controller, DPR, Mr. Woke Akinyosoye.

The Statement quoted the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, as emphasizing that the awards aim to becoming the oil and gas sector’s equivalent of the Oscars, celebrating genuine impact rather than mere participation.

“This recognition is reserved for those who have gone beyond compliance to drive tangible growth in Nigerian Content.

“With a focus on credibility, compliance, and measurable impact, the Champions of Nigerian Content Awards is poised to set a new standard for excellence in Nigeria’s energy sector”, the NCDMB Executive Scribe said.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa

Business

Nigeria’s Debt Servicing Gulped N696bn In Jan – CBN

Published

3 days ago

May 12, 2025

The Tide

Nigeria’s apex Banking institution, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has declared that Federal Government’s debt servicing increased to N696billion in January 2025.
The CBN’s recently published Economic Report revealed a precarious fiscal position, which worsened in January 2025 as debt servicing obligations exceeded total retained revenue by a wide margin.
According to the report, the Federal Government’s debt servicing obligations for the month stood at N696.27bn, while total retained revenue amounted to only N483.47bn, indicating that debt service alone consumed about 144 per cent of all government earnings.
This development highlights the growing debt burden and dwindling fiscal space facing Africa’s largest economy.
According to the report, despite slight improvements in some revenue categories, the retained earnings were grossly inadequate to cover obligatory debt repayments, exposing the government’s continued reliance on borrowing to meet basic obligations.
The report further revealed that retained revenue in January 2025 only recorded a marginal 0.89 per cent increase when compared with the N479.21bn generated in the corresponding month of 2024.
”FGN retained revenue declined in the review period, owing largely to lower receipts from Federal Government Independent Revenue and FGN’s share of exchange gain.
“At N0.48tn, provisional FGN retained revenue was 69.19 and 70.40 per cent below the levels recorded in the preceding period and monthly target, respectively”, it revealed.
While this points to stagnation rather than growth, the marginal rise was wiped out by the overwhelming debt service obligations.
The retained revenue components showed that the Federation Account contributed N167.69bn, while the VAT Pool Account delivered N90.73bn.

By: Corlins Walter

Business

Wage Award: FG Plans 5 Months Arrears Payment

Published

3 days ago

May 12, 2025

The Tide

The Federal Government has announced plans to commence the payment of the outstanding N35,000 wage award arrears owed workers in the Federal Civil Service.
A statement issued by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), which was signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa, said the outstanding arrears will be paid in instalments, with workers set to receive N35,000 per month for five months.
It clarified that the first tranche of the wage award arrears would be released immediately after the April salary payment.
“The wage award arrears was not paid with the April 2025 salary; it will come immediately after the salary is paid”, the statement read.
The Federal Government had earlier disbursed wage awards to federal workers for five months as part of efforts to cushion the impact of economic reforms. However, five months’ arrears remained unpaid.
The AGF office further reiterated the government’s commitment to fully implementing all policies and agreements relating to staff remuneration and welfare, noting that such efforts were geared towards enhancing productivity and operational efficiency across ministries, departments, and agencies.
The N35,000 wage award was introduced in 2023 as a palliative measure to support workers following the removal of the petrol subsidy and other economic adjustments.
In January this year, the Federal Government assured workers that it would clear the arrears of the N35,000 wage award, just as it also said the government had resumed the payment of the wage award.
The government also reiterated its commitment to addressing issues in the National Minimum Wage agreement reached with the Organised Labour in 2023.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, had disclosed the government’s commitment towards implementing agreements with trade unions during separate meetings with the leadership of the Trade Union Congress and Congress of University Academics, in Abuja.
The Nigeria Labour Congress had criticised the Federal Government over the delay in the payment of the minimum wage for certain workers in the federal civil service.
Also, the Federal Government had earlier blamed the delay in payment on the prolonged approval of the 2025 budget.

By: Corlins Walter