headlines for the day
Singapore’s funding model could solve Nigeria’s housing deficit
Nigeria’s housing demand-supply gap which remains intractable with rising poverty level and spiking building materials prices could find solution in Singapore’s funding model that has provided houses for a good number of its citizens.
Nigerian airlines increase fleet, eye AfCFTA’s ‘open skies’
Nigerian airlines are preparing to take advantage of the ‘open skies’ policy of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, as they make plans to commence flight operations into African destinations
Germany to return 1,130 artefacts looted from Nigeria
The German government has announced that it is ready to return 1,130 Benin Bronze artefacts looted from Nigeria since the 19th century and domiciled in its museums. The German Minister of State for Culture, Monika Grutters, and the German Foreign Minister,…
Nigeria on the Debt Precipice: Spent N1.8trn on Debt Servicing in First Five Months of 2021
The 2021 budget implementation report reported that the federal government spent a total of N1.8tn on debt servicing in the first five months of the year representing about 98% of the total revenue generated in the same period. A look at the data revealed that the total aggregate revenue generated by the federal government between January and May 2021 stood at N1.84tn, representing a shortfall of N1.48tn compared to the expected revenue of N3.32tn.
A Debt Management Office (DMO) report in Mar-21 revealed that the country’s debt increased by 0.61% to N33.1tn from N32.9tn in Dec-20. This means Nigeria grew its debt burden by N191bn in the first three months of the year loan amidst dwindling revenue and devaluations in the Nigerian economy. The cut in Nigeria’s oil production quota has also significantly affected Nigeria’s revenue. The nation currently maintains a crude oil production of 1.4mbpd despite a production capacity of 2.5mbpd.
The Nigerian government’s increase in debt service to revenue ratio at c.98% indicates that the country is spending practically all its revenue on servicing debts. This could potentially lead to a deepening crisis considering the need for the country to service its CAPEX projects to solve its infrastructure needs.
The recent positive rally in the global oil market has not yielded substantial growth in government revenue due to Nigeria’s reduced production quota. Notably, according to the foreign trade report by the NBS, the value of crude oil export reduced to N1.9tn in Q1-21 from N2.52tn recorded in the previous quarter
FIRS Appoints Banks to Recover N1.8trn Taxes from MultiChoice
Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Mohammad Nami said he has appointed all deposit money banks where MultiChoice Nigeria Limited (MCN) and MultiChoice Africa (MCA), owners of DSTV maintain accounts as agents to recover N1.8 trillion outstanding taxes.
Information currently at the disposal of FIRS has revealed a tax liability for relevant years of assessment for N1,822,923,909,313.94 (One trillion, eight hundred and twenty-two billion, nine hundred and twenty-three million, nine hundred and nine thousand, three hundred and thirteen naira, ninety-four kobo only) and $342,531,206 (Three hundred and forty-two million, five hundred and thirty-one thousand, two hundred and six dollars only).
“In this regard, the affected banks are required to sweep balances in each of the above-mentioned entities’ accounts and pay the same in full or part settlement of the companies’ respective tax debts until FULL recovery.
“This should be done before the execution of any transaction involving the companies or any of their subsidiaries.
FIRS requested the banks to inform it of any transactions before execution on the accounts, especially transfers of funds to any of their subsidiaries.”
