Wednesday, July 22, 2020
CBN’s benign economic outlook for Q2 deviates from consensus expectations
Nigeria’s central bank had a more benign outlook for economic growth in the second quarter (Q2) 2020 than the expectations of many economists, and even the local finance ministry. The Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) expects economic growth to decline by 1.03 percent in the second quarter, it said in a note published on its… Read more
Nigeria losing FX battle as banks limit dollar spending abroad
Nigerian banks limiting how much dollars customers can spend abroad is the latest sign of Nigeria’s worsening foreign exchange crisis. The banks are making moves last seen during the dark days of 2016 when an acute dollar scarcity hobbled the balance sheet of lenders and paved way for a big naira devaluation. Read more
Federal Govt records N1.46tn revenue deficit in Q1
Gross federally-collected revenue fell by 36 per cent or N1.46tn below the quarterly budget estimate in the first quarter of 2020. The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its quarterly report titled “Federation account operations,” obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday. Read more
FG plans N4.28tn loan for N12.66tn 2021 budget
The Federal Government has proposed N12.66tn as aggregate expenditure for the 2021 fiscal year on a deficit of N5.16tn. It would be partly financed by a total loan package of N4.28tn while the rest would be from internally generated revenues. Read more
Nigeria’s rating suffers blow from COVID-19, oil shock – Fitch
Fitch Ratings has said the coronavirus pandemic and the oil price shock have caused a severe impact on credit rating in Nigeria and some other sub-Saharan African countries. It stated this in its report on Monday titled ‘Outlook on Sub-Saharan sovereigns is negative.’ Read more
Economists worry about rising inflation, unemployment as rates stagnate
With the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) retaining the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) and other key rates, economists and analysts have urged the apex bank not to lose sight of rising inflation and unemployment. Read more
NCC commences accounting separation for telecoms industry
To ensure accountability and transparency in the telecoms sector, the Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC), has approved the implementation of the Accounting Separation Framework (ASF) in the industry. With the ASF, which became effective from July 15, the Commission hopes to prevent any anti-competitive behaviour, especially among telecoms operators. Read more
LIRS Announces Additional Reliefs for Taxpayers
The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has commenced the implementation of additional reliefs and measures to further ease the impact of the pandemic on taxpayers in Lagos state. The measures, according to a statement became effective on July 16, 2020. Read more