Economy
Nigeria to Finance 35% of 2024 Budget from Borrowing
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has disclosed plans to borrow N9 trillion from the debt market to fund 35 per cent of next year’s budget, according to Mr Ben Akabueze, the Director General of Budget of the Federation.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit in the capital, Abuja on Monday, he said that the remaining 65 per cent or N17 trillion will be raised from revenue, meaning that the rest will be balanced from borrowing.
“We are going to spend 26 trillion and we are looking to raise 17 trillion in revenue and the balance in debt,” Mr Akabueze said in an interview on Monday.
The federal government intends to spend some N26.01 trillion in 2024 which is 14.8 per cent or about N3.36 trillion higher than the corresponding 2023 estimated spending of N22.65 trillion which includes the N819.54 billion supplementary provision.
Out of the planned spending, N8.25 trillion and N243 billion have been provided for debt service and sinking funds to retire maturing bonds issued to local contractors and creditors, respectively.
The budget which will cover the first full year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration since he mounted office in May will seek to map out some cost-cutting measures to drive good governance, according to Mr Akabueze during the public consultation of the draft FGN 2024-2026 Medium Term Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) at the summit.
He said this will include a possible review of the 2007 Public Procurement Act as it looks for ways to improve efficiency, and value for money, as well as reduce corruption.
The FG has also slashed its own 2024 budget deficit to N9.05 trillion, 22 per cent lower than the N11.60 trillion budgeted in 2023, and it says it intends to keep the figure with the 3 per cent threshold as stipulated in the 2007 Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), going forward.
The proposed deficit represents about 53 per cent of its total revenues and 3.83 per cent of the estimated gross domestic product (GDP).
Approaching the debt market is a new development as Mr Wale Edun, the country’s minister of finance said there was no intention to borrow from any local or foreign organization at the inaugural Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday, August 28.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.
However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.
The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 15.6 million units worth N598.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.30 per cent fall was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as a result of profit-taking in the industrial goods sector.
This was mainly caused by sell-offs in Dangote Cement Plc, which released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 yesterday.
The cement maker lost 10.00 per cent during the session to trade at N432.00, Regency Alliance lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57 Kobo, VFD Group depreciated by 7.57 per cent to N17.10, Chams declined by 7.27 per cent to N2.04, and Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.12 per cent to 92 Kobo.
Conversely, International Breweries, Legend Internet, and Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N7.70, N6.82, and N12.10 apiece, Vitafoam Nigeria surged by 9.93 per cent to N44.85, and Eterna rose by 9.92 per cent to N39.90.
The industrial goods index was down by 4.73 per cent on Friday, as the others finished in green territory.
The consumer goods space rose by 2.21 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.55 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.50 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.07 per cent, and the commodity industry went up by 0.04 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 321.21 points to 105,753.05 points from 106,074.26 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N202 billion to N66.465 trillion from N66.667 trillion.
The level of activity increased yesterday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals grew by 30.40 per cent, 94.23 per cent, and 17.64 per cent, respectively.
This was because investors transacted 428.1 million shares worth N20.2 billion in 14,284 deals compared with the 328.3 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in traded in 12,142 deals a day earlier.
GTCO led the activity chart with 60.7 million equities sold for N3.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 41.4 million stocks worth N829.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 40.6 million shares valued at N968.3 million, MTN Nigeria sold 33.0 million equities for N8.2 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million stocks worth N1.1 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its gains against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 25 by 0.22 per cent or N3.59 to sell for N1,599.42/$1 compared with the N1,603.01/$1 it was traded in the previous session.
The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market by N1.36 to close at N1,818.53/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,819.89/€1.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N1.90 to wrap the session at N2,130.44/£1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N2,128.50/£1.
At the black market segment, the Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N2 to quote at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,607/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, a possible regulatory progress about digital assets in the US spurred buying interest among investors during the trading session.
The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Paul Atkins, was at a crypto roundtable on Friday and he devoted his inaugural speech to assuring the industry that he will continue to remake securities policy to favor digital assets innovation.
Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.0 per cent to $87.24, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.7 per cent to $0.1862, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.3 per cent to $94,687.84, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $1,797.51, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.7235, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.6 per cent to close at $2.20.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $151.64, and Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.8 per cent to sell for $602.89, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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