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Tag: Finance Minister

  • Tinubu directs finance minister to provide figures on new minimum wage in two days

    Tinubu directs finance minister to provide figures on new minimum wage in two days

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to analyze and provide figures on the proposed new national minimum wage by Wednesday.

    Tinubu gave the order at a meeting with the government negotiation team led by the Secretary to Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the presidential villa in Abuja.

    The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this in an interview with correspondents after the closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

    Idris said the President had a meeting with the representatives of the Federal Government in the negotiation with the labour on the minimum wage.

    He noted, “The president has just summoned a meeting of all those who negotiated on behalf of the federal government led by the secretary to the government of the federation, the minister of finance was there, the minister of budget planning, the minister of information, the minister of budget and national planning, the minister of labour, and the NNPCL GMD.

    “We were all there to look at all issues and the president has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour.”

    Idris assured of the president’s readiness to accept the committee’s resolutions, noting that “The president is determined to go with what the committee has said, and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.

    He said, “The president has just summoned a meeting of all those who negotiated on behalf of the federal government led by the secretary to the government of the federation, the minister of finance was there, the minister of budget planning, the minister of information, the minister of budget and national planning, the minister of labour, and the NNPCL GMD.

    “We were all there to look at all issues and the president has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour.”

    Idris assured of the president’s readiness to accept the committee’s resolutions, noting that “The president is determined to go with what the committee has said, and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.

    “Government is not against or opponent of labour discussions, the government is not an opponent of wage increase but what is there is that government is always there to ensure that there is a balance between what government pronouncement is and what the realities are on the ground.

    “And therefore, we will work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government makes are promises that will be kept. That is the idea of this meeting.”

    Furthermore, he said President Tinubu had directed the government representatives to work collectively with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable wage award for Nigerians.

    Idris explained, “The President has given a matching order that all those who have negotiated on behalf of the federal government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, the sub nationals to come together to have a new wage award that is affordable, sustainable and that is also realistic for Nigerians.

    “The wage award is not just that of the federal government as I mentioned earlier, the sub-nationals are involved, the organised private sector is involved; it was labour that stepped out during that procedure. Now we have come back to the negotiation table.”

    The minister assured that all hands would be on deck to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians in one week.

    “All of us will work together assiduously within the next one week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable and also realistic,” Idris said.

    Other members of the team with organised labour include; Ministers of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Labour, Information as well as the group Managing Director and chief executive officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited.

    Members of the organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, on Tuesday, suspended their strike for five days.

  • N1bn loan available for entrepreneurs at 9% interest -Finance Minister

    N1bn loan available for entrepreneurs at 9% interest -Finance Minister

    Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, says the Federal Government is offering businesses including manufacturers in the country credit facilities up to ₦1bn at a 9% interest rate.

    The minister, who was a guest on a national Television program said the current administration recognises the challenge of entrepreneurs to access affordable funds for their businesses, hence the initiative.

    He said small-scale entrepreneurs can get up to ₦1m in credit facility while larger businesses can access up to ₦1bn at 9% interest rate, which is cheaper than the current interest rate of 26.25 % recommended to commercial banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),

    Edun said, “The emphasis is on ramping up food production, the emphasis is on dealing with food nutrition and food insecurity.

    “Likewise, the emphasis is on helping small-scale businesses through grants, and nano enterprises through grant funding. That is being rolled out and it’s being done in a manner which, as I said before, is a world-class standard where you identify biometrically the person that is the beneficiary and you pay them through a digital process which you can easily reconcile.

    That is the emphasis, to make sure that we ramp up that speed and the scale of the help that is there even loans are 9% for medium scale enterprises, up to 1 million naira for the smaller enterprises and then for the larger enterprises up to 1 billion naira funding at 9% so that those manufacturing firms can invest grow the economy employ people produce more goods that will help to bring down inflation.”

    He assured Nigerians that food prices would come down in the coming months.

    The minister said though food insecurity is a worldwide phenomenon, the government has dedicated special funding for infrastructure to boost agricultural output.

    He said, “Inflation, yes, it is high at 33.65%, food inflation at 40.5% is worrisomely high but the fact is that inflation is coming down, month-on-month. It is slowing and it is expected to reduce as we continue the dry season harvest and then we go into the wet season harvest. That is the place to focus on and a lot of emphasis is being placed on that to get agriculture output up, to get prices down, and that will be a nig factor in bringing down inflation.”

    Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last weeks, as Nigerians battle the country’s current economic crisis sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.

  • Why Multinationals are leaving Nigeria – Finance Minister, Wale Edun

    Why Multinationals are leaving Nigeria – Finance Minister, Wale Edun

    Wale Edun, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has stated reasons why some multinationals are leaving the country.

    According to him, multinational companies exiting the country did not have liquid foreign exchange market.

    However, he noted that the Federal Government is working very hard on the economic and investment climate to attract more multinationals into Nigeria.

    Edun, made this known while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.

    He said, “One of the major drawbacks one of the major impediments for them (exiting multinationals) was they did not have a liquid foreign exchange market.

    “Now, we have a willing buyer, willing seller foreign exchange market. It is elevated, may be not at the levels we will like it to be but it is when you get inflation down that you can stabilise the exchange rate and even get it coming down similarly with the interest rate. That fight is on. It is an improved environment for them, for big investors as a whole.”

    He said recent executive orders signed by President Bola Tinubu has improved the investment climate for gas which Nigeria has in abundance.

    The minister said, “Companies will always come and go, of course, our aim is to not only keep them but to have them even more coming to invest, and we are sure that with the environment that we put in place, they would come.”

    He said a proposal to make things easier for both local and foreign manufacturers operating in the country are in an Economic Stabilisation Package before the President.

    “We are in a difficult place but the direction of travel is and it’s towards improvement. So, every single day, every single month, we are looking at an improved economic situation for Nigeria.”

    As Nigeria battles its current economic crisis sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows, some manufacturing companies have exited the country in the last few months, the latest being manufacturers of Huggies and Kotex brands of diapers, Kimberly-Clark.

    It would be recalled that few multinationals  exited Nigeria in the last one year and they  are US-based Procter and Gamble (P&G), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Unilever, Sanofi-Aventi Nigeria, amongst others.

    Many of the multinational have cited high energy cost and currency depreciation as reasons for exiting the country.

     

  • FG ends borrowing – Finance Minister, Edun

    FG ends borrowing – Finance Minister, Edun

    The Federal Government says it has no intention to borrow from any local or foreign organisation with its removal of subsidy on petrol and exchange rate harmonisation.

    The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Chief Wale Edun, revealed this at the end of the inaugural Federal Executive Council meeting on Monday in Abuja.

    He said that the benefit of the subsidy removal would be ploughed back into various sectors aimed at boosting government revenue and improving business environment for local and foreign investment.

    Edun said that with the increased revenue from subsidy removal, various palliatives have been made available to cushion its effect on a short, medium and long term basis.

    He reiterated the President Bola Tinubu-led administration’s desire to bring back the economy from the wood it has found itself over time.

    Similarly, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, said investment offers were already coming up in different sectors of the economy, including oil and gas, health, solid minerals and agriculture.

    She said that her ministry would collaborate with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government to achieve the president’s commitment to creation of jobs for the teeming youthful population of Nigeria.

    On his part, the Minister of Health, Dr Ali Pate, said that critical sections of the health value chain would be exploited to improve the economy and create jobs for Nigerians.

    He said that the president had directed them to be courageous and innovative in taking decisions that would benefit the country, adding that the president has already taken such moves.

    Pate said that the president was responsive to the need to set the economy on the path of progress with his move to remove subsidy on petrol from the first day on his inauguration.

    The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, said that the president charged the cabinet members to be transparent in their dealings, especially in disseminating necessary information.

    He urged the media to avail themselves of the opportunity of verifying and fact checking their stories in order not to misinform the public.

  • Why Nigeria needs help from private sector – Finance Minister

    Why Nigeria needs help from private sector – Finance Minister

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, says Nigeria needs help from the private sector to meet its public investment needs.

    Ahmed said this at the presentation of the latest World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU): “Nigeria’s Choice” and “Country Economic Memorandum(CEM): Charting a New Course” in Abuja on Thursday.

    The Minister was represented by the Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze.

    “I wish to conclude my address by conceding that we need help. The Nigerian Government at the national and subnational levels cannot provide all the financing required to meet Nigeria’s public investment needs.

    “As stated in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025, we need the private sector, both foreign and domestic, as integral partners in securing the much-needed financing required to fund both physical and social investments for Nigeria’s overall development.”

    Ahmed said the report noted that under a business-as-usual scenario, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita will continue to decline, however, drastic reforms could change this.

    She said the Nigerian economy had demonstrated considerable resilience in addressing the challenges caused by COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war which were global issues.

    The Panelists at the presentation of the report also agreed that the private sector was needed to help change the country’s economic trajectory.

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo said the solution was beyond microeconomics but in building a consensus and having an agreement to build the economy.

    Obaseki said the report talked about jobs and the private sector, saying that the private sector accounts for 90 per cent of GDP.

    “So, why should policy not be tuned to support the activities of the private sector so we can create more jobs?

    “There is no alignment of interests for those in government. Look at our budget, up to 70 per cent of our budget is on servicing government and government institutions and much less on providing a supportive environment to allow the private sector.

    “Unless and until we have that alignment in terms of interests and build the political and social consensus we will just keep turning around.

    “I think we must broaden the conversations and understand that there is nothing new. It is either we drive our potential or things will fall apart,” he said

    Gov. Nasir El -Rufai of Kaduna state said the private sector had a major role to play in arriving at a consensus to change the economic trajectory of Nigeria since it accounts for 95 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP.

    “The consensus is that if 95 per cent of jobs are from the private sector and 90 per cent of GDP is from the private sector, the private sector should agree that these things must be done.

    “I have told you the two big elephants in this room are subsidy and exchange rate and those at the receiving end of these are the private sector and the subnational.”

    He said that Nigeria needed a President who would reverse the trajectory of the country permanently.

    “Nigeria’s next President must make urgent and immediate decisions, maybe three to five years of pain to reverse this trajectory.

    “So that President that is ready to change the trajectory will remove the word potential from Nigeria’s vocabulary and we will finally be the country we deserve to be,” he said.

    Dr Sarah Alade, Adviser to the President on Finance and Economy, said the government needs to provide a platform for the private sector to invest if Nigeria is to improve its microeconomic climate.

    Alade said this would be achieved by restoring the confidence in local and foreign investors through restoring microeconomic stability because every market economy thrived on confidence.

    “The way we will do this is through urgent reforms in terms of the fiscal stance, the fiscal stance has to be consistent, and then we talk about removing subsidies, making revenue available and so on.

    “We also must have a monetary policy stance consistent with low inflation. We have to also look at the exchange rate, our exchange rate must be such that it avoids volatility.

    “We cannot grow the economy by ourselves, we need revenue, we need jobs, we need to be able to do things to encourage and motivate the private sector to come and provide all we need,” she said.

    The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, said the NDU report titled ” Nigeria’s Choice” was not political but referred to the choices in terms of policies and going forward.

    ” The choice we are talking about is that Nigeria stands at a critical juncture with a choice to make instead of floating along.

    “This is a choice that rising to potential is realised going forward, “he said.

    Dr. Alex Sienaert, World Bank’s Lead Economist for Nigeria, who gave a presentation of the report, said the report recommended a set of reform choices Nigeria could make in three key areas in the short and medium terms.

    Sienaert said the first reform was to restore macroeconomic stability through measures to reduce domestic and external imbalances.

    “This will require a coordinated mix of the exchange rate, trade, monetary, and fiscal policies, notably including adopting a single, market-responsive exchange rate, eliminating the petrol subsidy, and increasing oil and non-oil revenues.”

    He said the second thing was to boost private sector development and competitiveness by eliminating structural constraints that hinder productivity, and thirdly to expand social protection to protect the poor and most vulnerable.

    The NDU which is released every six months assesses recent economic and social developments and prospects in Nigeria, and places these in a longer-term and global context.

    The CEM offers key insights into Nigeria’s growth record since 2000 and highlights key policy reforms to chart a new and inclusive growth path that boosts growth and accelerates job creation.

  • CBN replies Finance minister on redesign of naira notes

    CBN replies Finance minister on redesign of naira notes

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reacted to reports of not following a due process regarding the redesigning of three series of naira notes.

    The spokesman of the apex bank, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, said this while responding to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who said her ministry was not carried along.

    When she appeared before a senate committee on Friday, the minister had faulted the process, which she described as ill-timed.

    But Nwanisobi expressed surprise at the minister’s claim, stressing that the CBN remains a comprehensive institution.

    He said the management of the CBN, in line with provisions of section 2(b), section 18(a), and section 19(a)(b) of the CBN Act 2007, had duly sought and obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari in writing to redesign, produce, release and circulate new series of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.

    Urging Nigerians to support the currency redesign project, he said it was in the overall interest of Nigerians, reiterating that some persons were hoarding significant sums of banknotes outside the vaults of commercial banks.

    This trend, he said, should not be encouraged by anyone who means well for the country.

    Furthermore, he noted that currency management in the country had faced several escalating challenges which threatened the integrity of the currency, the CBN, and the country.

    Nwanisobi added that every top-rate Central Bank was committed to safeguarding the integrity of the local legal tender, the efficiency of its supply, and its efficacy in the conduct of monetary policy.

    On the timing of the redesign project, Nwanisobi explained that the CBN had even tarried for too long considering that it had to wait 20 years to carry out a redesign, whereas the standard practice globally was for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every five to eight years.

    While assuring Nigerians that the currency redesign exercise was purely a central banking exercise and not targeted at any group, the CBN spokesman expressed optimism that the effort will, among other goals, deepen Nigeria’s push to entrench a cashless economy in the face of increased minting of the eNaira. This, he said, is in addition to helping to curb the incidents of terrorism and kidnapping due to access of persons to the large volume of money outside the banking system used as a source of funds for ransom payments.

    Nwanisobi, therefore urged Nigerians, irrespective of their status, to support the Naira redesign project, as it is for the greater good of the economy.

  • As UK’s Truss fights for her job, new finance minister warns of tough decisions

    As UK’s Truss fights for her job, new finance minister warns of tough decisions

    Britain’s new finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday that some taxes would go up and tough spending decisions were needed.

    His remark signals further reversals from Prime Minister Liz Truss as she battles to keep her job just over a month into her term.

    In an attempt to appease financial markets that have been in turmoil for three weeks, Truss fired Kwasi Kwarteng as her chancellor of the exchequer on Friday and scrapped parts of their controversial economic package.

    With opinion poll ratings dire for both the ruling Conservative Party and the prime minister personally, and many of her own lawmakers asking, not if, but how Truss should be removed, she has turned to Hunt to help salvage her premiership less than 40 days after taking office.

    “We will have some very difficult decisions ahead,” Hunt said as he toured TV and radio studios to give a blunt assessment of the situation the country faced, saying Truss and Kwarteng had made mistakes.

    “The thing that people want, the markets want, the country needs now, is stability. No chancellor can control the markets,” Hunt said.

    “But what I can do is show that we can pay for our tax and spending plans and that is going to need some very difficult decisions on both spending and tax,” he added.

    Truss won the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson on a platform of big tax cuts to stimulate growth, which Kwarteng duly announced last month.

    “But the absence of any details of how the cuts would be funded sent the markets into meltdown.

    She has now ditched plans to cut tax for high earners, and said a levy on business would increase, abandoning her proposal to keep it at current levels. But it is not clear if that has gone far enough to satisfy investors.

    Hunt is due to announce the government’s medium-term budget plans on Oct. 31, in what will be a key test of its ability to show it can restore its economic policy credibility. He said further changes to Truss’s plans were possible.

    “Giving certainty over public finances, how we’re going to pay for every penny that we get through the tax and spending decisions we make, those are very, very important ways that I can give certainty and help create the stability,” he said.

    He cautioned spending would not rise by as much as people would like and all government departments were going to have to find more efficiencies than they were planning.

    “Some taxes will not be cut as quickly as people want, and some taxes will go up. So it’s going to be difficult,” he said, adding that he would sit down with Treasury officials on Saturday before meeting Truss on Sunday to go through the plans.

    Kwarteng’s Sept. 23 fiscal statement prompted a backlash in financial markets that was so ferocious the Bank of England (BoE) had to intervene to prevent pension funds being caught up in the chaos as borrowing costs surged.

    Hunt, an experienced minister and viewed by many in his party as a safe pair of hands, said he agreed with Truss’s fundamental strategy of kickstarting economic growth, adding that their approach had not worked.

    “There were some mistakes made in the last few weeks.

    “That’s why I’m sitting here. It was a mistake to cut the top rate of tax at a period when we’re asking everyone to make sacrifices,” he said.

    It was also a mistake, Hunt said, to “fly blind” and produce the tax plans without allowing the independent fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, to check the figures.

    The fact that Hunt is Britain’s fourth finance minister in four months is testament to a political crisis that has gripped Britain since Johnson was ousted following a series of scandals.

    Hunt said Truss should be judged at an election and on her performance over the next 18 months – not the last 18 days.

    However, she might not get that chance. During the leadership contest, Truss won support from less than a third of Conservative lawmakers and has appointed her backers since taking office – alienating those who support her rivals.

    The appointment of Hunt, who ran to be leader himself and then backed her main rival ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak, has been seen as a sign of her reaching out, but the move did little to placate some of her party critics.

    “It’s over for her,” one such Conservative lawmakers told Reuters after Friday’s events.

    The next key test will come on Monday, when the British government bond market functions for the first time without the emergency buying support provided by the BoE since Sept. 28.

    Gilt prices plunged late on Friday after Truss’s announcement.

    Newspapers said Truss’s position was in jeopardy, but with no appetite in the party or country for another leadership election, it was unclear how she could be replaced.

    “Even Liz Truss’s most loyal allies, viewing the matter through the most rose-tinted glasses available, must now wonder how she can survive,” the Daily Mail tabloid, which had previously given Truss strong support, said in its editorial.

    “Yet what is the alternative?”

  • Why I was asked to resign – Britain’s Finance Minister

    Why I was asked to resign – Britain’s Finance Minister

    British Finance Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng was asked to resign by Prime Minister Liz Truss as chancellor of the exchequer on Friday.

    In a statement shared via his verified Twitter hand, Kwarteng tweeted that this was to emphasise Truss government’s commitment to fiscal discipline.

    “You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted. When you asked me to serve as your Chancellor, I did so in full knowledge that the situation we faced was incredibly difficult, with rising global interest rates and energy prices.

    “However, your vision of optimism, growth and change was right. As I have said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option. For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation – that must still change if this country is to succeed.

    “The economic environment has changed rapidly since we set out the Growth Plan on 23 September. In response, together with the Bank of England and excellent officials at the Treasury we have responded to those events, and I commend my officials for their dedication.

    “It is important now as we move forward to emphasise your government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Medium-Term Fiscal Plan is crucial to this end, and I look forward to supporting you and my successor to achieve that from the backbenchers.

    “We have been colleagues and friends for many years. In that time, I have seen your dedication
    and determination. I believe your vision is the right one. It has been an honour to serve as your
    first Chancellor. Your success is this country’s success and I wish you well”.

  • ‘We want to take a decision about Nigeria’ – NASS summons CBN Gov, Finance Minister

    ‘We want to take a decision about Nigeria’ – NASS summons CBN Gov, Finance Minister

    The National Assembly has summoned the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele to appear before it on Thursday on the state of the award of scanners that had been adjudged not functional.

    The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NSC), retired Col. Hameed Ali is to also appear before the Joint Committee on Customs and Excise.

    The Chairman of the joint committee, Sen. Francis Alimikhena, gave the directive during an investigative hearing on Sunday in Abuja.

    Alimikhena said that the contract was given to Webb Fontaine by the ministry of finance to provide the IT infrastructure for the Nigeria Customs Service for effective scanning activities.

    Not happy with the development, Alimikhena frowned at the absence of the Minister, the CBN Governor, and other stakeholders that are involved.

    He said that the minister of finance, the CG of Customs; the CBN Governor, Webb Fontaine Limited, and other stakeholders must appear before the Committee on Thursday, Sept. 29

    He warned that no representative would be attended to as the issue at stake involved revenue generation to the country.

    Alimikhena said: “We want to see the minister, the CG Customs, the CBN governor, President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF).

    “We do not want to see any representation; we want to take a decision about Nigeria, this is about the revenue of the country. Webb Fontaine is very important in this matter, they have made serious money in this country.

  • Reps summons Finance minister, Hajia Zainab over petrol subsidy

    Reps summons Finance minister, Hajia Zainab over petrol subsidy

    The House of Representatives has ordered the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning Hajia Zainab Ahmed, to provide all documents relating to subsidies from 2013 till date.

    The order to provide all documents at the ministry’s disposal was given by Rep Ibrahim Aliyu, Chairman, Special ad hoc committee investigating Petroleum Subsidy regime when Mr. Stephen Okon,  made an appearance on the floor of the green chamber.

    The Chairman of the committee gave the minister Aug 16 to make herself available with all the relevant documents in subsidy claims.

    He noted that the minister must provide answers to all questions concerning the consolidated revenue account as subsidy payment from 2013 to date.

    According to him, the breakdown of beneficiary companies that received subsidy payments from the consolidated revenue account must be submitted before it.

    The Chairman said the statement credited to the minister that N6.7 trillion is needed by the country for subsidy calls for concern.

    He emphasized that she needed to appear before the committee to make some clarifications.

    Okon added that the issue was a very serious one that required the concern of everybody, adding that the committee was holding trust for the citizenry.

    Okon further explained that the minister has been summoned because the information provided before now on the matter is confusing and very untidy.

    He asked for more time adding that he wasn’t mandated to do any form of presentation to the committee.