By InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)- Abraham Nwankwo, director general (DG) of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) on Tuesday said that about N1.884 trillion expected to be borrowed in the 2016 budget will be dedicated to fund capital projects.

Nwankwo made this disclosure at a one-day workshop by DMO on “Public Debt and the challenge of financing Nigeria’s economic recovery” organised for Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) in Lagos.

A breakdown of the expected borrowing include N900 billion and N984 billion external and internal borrowing respectively and logic is to rebalance Total Public Debt Stock in favour of less costly external funds.

“The DMO is committed to making sure that we raise money to fund the 2016 budget deficit from appropriate sources and through appropriate mix during the fiscal year to make sure that capital projects are funded,” he said.

According to Nwankwo, Nigeria’s debt level is highly sustainable and noted that the nation still had a lot of idle potential, which the administration is currently working to harness for effective growth of our national economy.

The DMO DG said that while comparative tax revenue to GDP ratio of Nigeria is less than 7.0 percent, its peer group has a ratio of 18 percent and that of industrialised countries is about 27 percent.  He therefore, stressed the need to widen the tax net to generate more revenue for the government.

According to him, Nigeria’s Debt-to-GDP Ratio as at December 31, 2015 is 13 percent compared to 56 percent of peer group; affirming that in this essence our debt is still very sustainable.

“But the critical issue is the ability to service the debt, which is dependent on the Public Revenue – to – GDP ratio,” he added.

To this regard, the DMO DG encouraged all Nigerians to continue to make sure that they pay their taxes fully as at when due because our tax revenue GDP ratio is relatively lower to countries in our peer group.

“As our economy grows, as our GDP grows, as we are collecting enough in taxes from individuals and corporate bodies to be able to fund capital projects, our economy will continue to grow” Nwankwo said.

He further affirmed that debt sustainability and overall economic sustainability can be significantly influence by individuals and corporate bodies paying taxes fully.

Speaking on the economic recession caused mainly by unfavourable structural change in the fall of oil prices globally, he said the Nigerian government is addressing the challenge through diversified, self-sustaining growth in agriculture and agro processing, solid minerals, manufacturing and ICT.

According to him, in the medium to long term, debt sustainability in Nigeria hinges on the overall sustainability of the economic, and the overall economic sustainability hinges on diversifying the economy in a sustainable manner.

“That is what the government is doing in agriculture,   solid minerals, ICT and manufacturing. And to do that we need a strong infrastructure base and that is why government is spending what is borrowing on capital projects,” Nwankwo added.

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By Barnabas Esiet

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Paul Angya, the acting director general of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Tuesday issued a 24-hour ultimatum to dealers to destroy every fake tyre in their stock or face prosecution.

Angya who gave the ultimatum at a stakeholder’s forum in Lagos said the era of seizure and destruction of fake and substandard products was over as the Agency will henceforth prosecute offenders.

He made reference to a recent report by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) stating that out of 8,986 accidents recorded in 2015, 722 were due to tyre bursts resulting in the death of 446 persons.

The SON DG threatend to charge with murder, any dealer of fake product caught by his agency.
”We are going to stamp out corruption among the tyre dealers as the task force we are going to set up will not sleep until we confirm that accidents in the country are not traced to substandard tyres again” he said.

Angya disclosed his agency has the legal backing to shut down, for three (3) months without going to court, any shop displaying fake tyres adding that offenders could also bag up to  10 years imprisonment without any option of fine.

“The agency will soon take the campaign of standard tyres to the motor packs across the country to sensitise Nigerians about the usage and maintenance of tyres,” he added.

The SON boss urged motorists not to patronise unqualified vulcanizers as their activities also contribute to road accidents.

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By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday named Tijjani Mohammed Abdullahi as the new director general (DG) (Budget), who replaces Yahaya Gusau, the current DG.

This is coming on the heels of controversies surrounding the  proposed 2016 budget for Nigeria which is presently before the national assembly.

A statement from the Presidency signed by Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the President, (Media & Publicity) announced the appointment of Abdullahi as the new DG of Budget.

According to the statement, he is a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance.

“The new Director-General (Budget) is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the Federation,” the statement added.

Similarly, the statement announced that appointment of Ben Ifeanyi Akabueze as the special adviser on Planning to the Minister of Budget and National Planning.

Akabueze is the immediate past commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State and has worked in seniour management positions in Citi Bank, Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa, NAL Merchant Bank, Sterling Bank and BIA Consulting Limited, among others.

He is Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; Fellow, Institute of Credit Administrators and Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers.

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