Business

We’re borrowing responsibly by investing in rail, others – Finance minister

Published

3 years ago

August 30, 2021

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has reacted to criticisms against the Federal Government’s huge loans to finance capital projects, saying the administration is borrowing “sensibly” to cater to the country’s infrastructure needs including rail.

She also said the economy was indeed beginning to pick up on account of the huge contribution from the non-oil sector.

She spoke in Abuja on Monday at a press conference on the recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics on the growth of the economy.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, was also present at the press conference.

Ahmed said if Nigeria failed to invest in infrastructure, “we will regret it”.

Nigeria’s total public debt had hit N33.1 trillion as of March 2021 and many have expressed concern about the rate at which the government is borrowing to finance infrastructure projects.

But the minister said the investments would be beneficial to the country in the future.

“We are borrowing sensibly and we are investing in rail and other infrastructure,” she said, adding, “If we do not do these investments, we will regret. [These] investments will return revenue in the future.”

Speaking on the NBS report, Ahmed explained that the country’s economy would have grown above five per cent in the second quarter of 2021 but the agriculture sector recorded slower growth, owing to security challenges.

“The 2021 second quarter growth reflects better economic performance compared to the same quarter last year. The same quarter last year, we had a negative growth of -6.10 percent. It is also better than the first quarter of 2021,” she said.

The minister also said, “The service sector recorded a strong performance, growing by 9.27 percent this reporting quarter, representing the fastest growth in this sector since 2010.

“The second quarter growth of 2021 would have been much stronger than the 5.01 per cent but for agriculture that recorded a slightly lower growth.

“A number of bottlenecks within the system including insecurity have negatively affected the sector negatively. Also, the industrial sector slowed down to -1.3 per cent.”

She stressed that the non-oil sector contributed majorly to the growth witnessed in the second quarter.

“The non-oil sector recorded a growth of 7 percent which represents the fastest growth since the third quarter of 2014,” she said.

Ahmed noted that the nation’s economic and business activities were fully returning to pre-COVID-19 period.

Related Topics:Featured FG loans Finance minister rail

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Ikeja Electric cuts tariff for Band A customers

Published

29 mins ago

May 6, 2024

Trends Admin

Ikeja Electric cuts tariff for Band A customers

The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company has announced a reduction in the tariff for customers under Band A classification from N225 per kilowatt-hour to N206.80kw/h

This is coming about a month after the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A category to N225 per kwh — from N66.

The commission has clarified that customers under Band A receive between 20 and 24 hours of electricity supply daily.

Ikeja Electric said in a circular on Monday the cut in the new tariff rate would take effect from May 6, 2024.

Business

Finally, NERC unbundles TCN, creates new system operator

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Trends Admin

Finally, NERC unbundles TCN, creates new system operator

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has set up the Nigerian Independent System Operator of Nigeria Limited (NISO) as it unbundles the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

The transmission leg of the power sector has over the years been seen as weakest link with obsolete equipment.

The unbundling announcement is contained in an Order dated April 30, 2023 and jointly signed by NERC chairman, Sanusi Garba, and vice chairman, Musiliu Oseni.

By this order, the TCN is expected to transfer all market and system operation functions to the new company.

The commission had previously issued transmission service provider (TSP) and system operations (SO) licences to the TCN, in accordance with the Electric Power Sector Reform Act.

The Electricity Act 2023, which came into effect on June 9, provided clearer guidelines for the incorporation and licensing of the independent system operator (ISO), as well as the transfer of assets and liabilities of TCN’s portion of the ISO.
In the circular, the commission ordered the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to incorporate, unfailingly on May 31, a private company limited by shares under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
NERC said the company is expected “to carry out the market and system operation functions stipulated in the Electricity Act and the terms and conditions of the system operation licence issued to the TCN.
“The name of the company shall, subject to availability at Corporate Affairs Commission, be the Nigerian Independent System Operator of Nigeria Limited (“NISO”),” NERC said.

Citing the object clause of the NISO’s memorandum of association (MOU) as provided in the Electricity Act, NERC said the company would “hold and manage all assets and liabilities pertaining to market and system operation on behalf of market participants and consumer groups or such stakeholders as the Commission may specify.”

Business

Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$

Published

3 days ago

May 3, 2024

Trends Admin

Naira depreciates again, trades at N1,402/$

The Nigerian currency, naira, on Thursday slightly depreciated at the official market, trading at N1,402.67 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), showed that the naira lost N11.71