The country’s foreign reserves which stood at $38.07bn at the end of 2019 fell to $34.9bn at the end of the first quarter of 2020. To make forex available to operators in the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria sold forex from the country’s foreign reserves to achieve stability of...
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, blew the whistle on some “powerful and influential” Nigerians recently during a briefing in Abuja. What was the story? According to Adegbite, these economic saboteurs – that’s what they are – have been putting pressure on the Federal Government to free...
The Federal Government, said yesterday it has deregulated the downstream petroleum industry. The government, however, said it would continue to intervene in determining the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, to safeguard consumers of the commodity from being exploited by oil marketers. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Minister of...
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday, said the country generated N338.94 billion as Value Added Tax (VAT) in the first quarter of the year (Q1’20). This represents a 15.66 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise when compared to N293.04 billion generated in the corresponding period of last year. It also shows a...
Indications have emerged that more public assets may be put up for sale by the Federal Government as the Bureau of Public Enterprises reviews the 2020 Privatisation Work Plan. Checks by our correspondent revealed that work on the review of the privatisation work plan is ongoing. The revised 2020 budget has a deficit...
The Federal Executive Council, FEC, yesterday, revised the 2020 Budget from N10. 594 trillion signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari to N10. 523 trillion. FEC also approved the amendment of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF for 2020-2022. Recall that the National Assembly had increased the 2020 budget from N10.33...
Experts in the financial sector have said that an economic recession looms in the third quarter of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic currently ravaging the global economy. To cushion the effect of the recession, they advised, incentives and initiatives should be put in place to attract domestic private sector investments...
Against the backdrop of the current downturn in the global oil market and fiscal disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic experts yesterday suggested the Federal Government would only survive the storms if it relaxes its stranglehold on power. The items rejected by the government in the Oronsaye Report would undermine...
President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to raise N850 billion from the domestic capital market got an accelerated approval from the Senate on Tuesday. The President is seeking the loan to fund projects in the revised 2020 budget. The request was contained in a presidential memo read by Senate President Ahmad Lawan on the...
Operation across most sectors of Nigeria’s economy have been suspended as part of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus; but Nigerian ports remain operational to aid the evacuation of essential items such as food, petroleum products, medical equipment and safety materials to combat...
