By Obinna Chima

 

The Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has distributed a total of N411.6 billion ($2.7 billion) from the federation accounts to the three tiers of government for the month of September. The figure represented a slide by five per cent, compared with the previous month’s figure; Reuters quoted the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ibrahim Dankwambo, to have told reporters after the FAAC meeting.

 

“The total revenue distributable for the month, including Value Added Tax (VAT) is N411.572 billion,” Dankwambo said. The monthly distributions have a major impact on liquidity in the inter-bank market as money market operators had predicted the rates to climb this week once the FAAC allocation hits the system. It is also expected to trigger shifts in bond yields.

 

Dankwambo added that the nation’s gross revenues in the month, which come largely from oil exports, fell to N472.6 billion from N501.5 billion in August, due partly to some oil infrastructure being shut down for repairs and delays to some export cargoes. Meanwhile, in a bid to promote commercial agriculture in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has guaranteed a total of N829.572 billion loan under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF).

 

The fund, which was disbursed between January and March this year, guarantees up to 75 per cent of credit facilities extended to farmers by banks in case of default. The Fund is managed by the CBN, which handles the day-to-day operations of the Scheme. A report made available on the apex bank website yesterday, showed that while N313.662 billion was allocated to the livestock farming sub-sector, a total of N91.315 billion went to the Fisheries sub-sector.

 

Mixed crops farming was also supported with a total of N16.150 billion. Food crops which consisted of vegetables, beans, soya beans, grains, tuber and root got a total of N308.825 billion.In the same vein, cash crops, which comprised of oil palm, rubber, ginger, cotton, groundnut and cocoa, received a total of N8.300 billion. Other forms of farming, which was not disclosed by the report, were also allocated N83.320 billion.

 

A breakdown of the figure made available by the banking sector watchdog also showed that Akwa Ibom State got a total of N117.700 billion.It wasclosely followed by Kwara and Lagos states, which received N82.470 billion and N81.942 billion respectively.

 

Source:ThisDay