Economy
Group Lauds Kwara Government for Improving IGR
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
For improving the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Kwara State, a group known Elites Network for Sustainable Development ENetSuD, has showered praises on the state government.
A statement issued by the coordinator of the Kwara-based civil society organization, Mr Alagbonsi Abdullateef, disclosed that the reform put in place by the administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed was yielding results.
According to him, “IGR of Kwara State has commendably improved in recent times, which had greatly contributed to the total revenue of the state and has been sustaining it, especially at the period of dwindling FAAC allocation.”
“Year-by-year analysis of the Total revenue of Kwara state since 2012 showed a significant decline since 2015, which could be related to the dwindling FAAC allocation caused by recession and oil price.
“Interestingly, FAAC has been gradually increasing since 2016 (though below pre-recession periods like 2013 and 2014), and there is a possibility that the total revenue at the end of 2018 will equate or even surpass that of 2013, considering the fact that the monthly net FAAC to Kwara state has averagely remained around 3.5 billion since December 2017,” the statement said.
The KWSG, in its efforts to increase and diversify its revenue base for financial freedom and bolster efficacy in governance, signed the Kwara State Revenue Administration Law (Law No. 6 of 2015) on 22nd June 2015, which made the old Board of Internal Revenue defunct and gave birth to the current Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS).
The current KW-IRS has significantly increased the State IGR compared to the periods that precede its formation. The impact of the current system of IGR in Kwara is evident from the percentage contribution of IGR to the annual total revenue in the state. For instance, between 2012 and 2015 when KW-IRS was formed, 2014 was the year with the highest percentage contribution of IGR to the total revenue of the state (22%), followed by 2013 (21.6%), while 2015 has the lowest (17.4%).
However, it is interesting to note that IGR has significantly contributed to the total revenue of the state since 2016. Specifically, the contributions of IGR to the State revenue in 2016 (40.1%), 2017 (37.2%) and 2018 (33.0%) are comparably higher than the years that precedes the creation of KW-IRS, even though the dwindling FAAC since 2016 could be an important confounder.
“Considering the unique importance of IGR to the economic viability of a state (especially in the era of unstable FAAC Allocation), responsible and patriotic citizens are expected to play their role in growing the economy by paying their taxes regularly. We are appealing to the citizens and residents of Kwara State to pay their taxes accordingly,” the group added.
“We are of the conviction that Kwarans will voluntarily continue to cooperate with Government on payment of taxes if the State Infrastructural Development commensurate with the taxes that are being paid. We therefore urge the KWSG to provide value for the tax-payers money,” ENetSuD said.
The group further said, “Many aspects of the economy in the state, including Education, Health, Road infrastructure, Environment, etc, need urgent attention of KWSG. For instance, we have repeatedly called the attention of KWSG to the pitiable condition of school infrastructure across the state.
“Many of the school buildings are dilapidated, and need urgent attention of the government. On health, the creation of State Health Insurance Scheme, and the commitment of 1% of the State Annual Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Scheme is commendable.
“However, the sector needs improvement in terms of manpower and facilities. The uncountable numbers of bad roads in the state also need the quick intervention of the government within the limit of the available resources,” it said further.
“Advising the KWSG on the need to improve IGR outside tax payment by citizens is of interest to us. The government should explore all the possible ways to attract investors to Kwara state, which will boost its economy. Investing in the agricultural sector to diversify the economy is also sacrosanct.
“While the practice of removing 500 million naira monthly as Kwara Infrastructure Development Fund (IF-K) from the IGR is good, KWSG is again urged to be prudent in spending, and make more savings from the available resources,” the statement said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange remained in the negative territory after it further depreciated by 0.64 per cent on Friday, July 24, despite recording four price gainers.
The NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 27.4 points at the close of business to settle at 4,294.75 points versus the previous day’s 4,383.48 points, while the market capitalisation gave up N16.49 billion to end at N2.577 trillion, in contrast to the N2.594 trillion it ended a day earlier.
The bourse was down during the session amid heavy sell-offs, with the volume of transactions skyrocketing by 693.9 per cent to 2.99 million units from Thursday’s 377,635 units.
Equally, the value of trades went up by 71.6 per cent to N69.4 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 41.0 per cent to 55 deals from the preceding day’s 39 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.6 million units traded for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
The market ended the session with four price gainers and two price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which lost N7.44 to trade at N136.19 per share compared with the previous day’s N143.63 per share, and CSCS Plc, which declined by N1.64 to N93.63 per unit from N95.27 per unit.
But MRS Oil gained N13.50 to sell at N148.50 per share versus N135.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc advanced by 56 Kobo to N17.41 per unit from N16.85 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 18 Kobo to N1.93 per share from N1.75 per share, and Food Concepts Plc climbed by 1 Kobo to N2.50 per unit from N2.49 per unit.
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock exchange succumbed to profit-taking on Friday, losing 0.19 per cent when the closing gong was hit at 4 pm.
Shares in the banking and energy sectors influenced the decline suffered by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited during the session, as they respectively closed lower by 0.40 per cent and 0.04 per cent.
The industrial goods index was flat yesterday, while the insurance counter gained 0.68 per cent and the consumer goods space chalked up 0.25 per cent. The gains by these two segments could not keep Customs Street in the green territory at the close of business.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 474.00 points to 247,357.40 points from 247,831.40 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N306 billion to N159.588 trillion from N159.894 trillion.
Presco dropped 10.00 per cent during the trading day to close at N2,070.00, Thomas Wyatt crumbled by 9.93 per cent to N3.63, Trans-Nationwide Express plunged by 8.44 per cent to N2.82, Royal Exchange slipped by 7.86 per cent to N1.29, and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shrank by 7.32 per cent to N3.80.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing improved by 9.48 per cent to N6.35, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, RT Briscoe jumped by 8.61 per cent to N13.25, Honeywell Flour expanded by 7.38 per cent to N17.45, and Africa Prudential increased by 6.98 per cent to N13.80.
Despite the poor performance, the local bourse recorded a positive market breadth index after finishing with 35 price gainers and 25 price losers, representing strong investor sentiment.
It was a relatively quiet market on Friday, as the activity level dropped, with the trading volume down by 27.72 per cent to 565.5 million units from 782.4 million units, and the trading value contracted by 46.89 per cent to N29.9 billion from N56.3 billion, while the number of deals executed by investors soared by 16.03 per cent to 53,688 deals from 46,273 deals.
Access Holdings was the busiest stock for the session, with a turnover of 128.0 million units sold for N3.8 billion, First Holdco transacted 35.4 million units worth N4.3 billion, Chams exchanged 34.8 million units valued at N154.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 30.4 million units for N3.9 billion, and UBA sold 30.4 million units worth N1.5 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marked a whole week of appreciation against the United States Dollar on Friday, July 24, further gaining N5.67 or 0.41 per cent to close at N1,362.09/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) compared with N1,367.76/$1 it ended on Thursday.
Equally, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N10.83 to trade at N1,813.62/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,824.45/£1, and improved against the Euro by N7.68 to settle at N1,549.10/€1, in contrast to the N1,556.78/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
However, at the parallel market and GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency remained unchanged against the greenback during the session at N1,400/$1 and N1,379/$1, respectively.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buffer has been strengthened with sustained foreign portfolio inflows and robust foreign reserves, which stand above $52 billion.
The apex bank’s policy signals that the Naira will be stronger in the near term, with Nigeria clearing hurdles with FX reforms and settlement of all backlogs.
However, some traders expect that pressure may come due to foreign-currency buying from fuel importers as they make Dollar purchases to build inventories.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC), in the digital currency landscape, trimmed recent gains as it fell by 2.3 per cent to $63,787.73.
The weak action in the AI momentum trade is feeding through to crypto as well.
Further, Cardano (ADA) dropped 3.7 per cent to close at $0.1615, Solana (SOL) dipped by 2.8 per cent to $73.71, Ripple (XRP) crashed by 2.3 per cent to $1.08, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.9 per cent to $1,851.58, Dogecoin (DOGE) retreated by 0.8 per cent to $0.0694, Binance Coin (BNB) contracted by 0.7 per cent to $564.18, and TRON (TRX) lost 0.5 per cent to trade at $0.3292, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
