Economy
Budget: NASS Must Not Fight Presidency—Udoma
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, has explained that success in producing a good 2017 Budget will require strong collaboration between the Executive and the National Assembly.
He made this known during a programme held in Abuja on Monday.
While stressing that an important tool for achieving economic recovery and sustainable growth will be the 2017 Budget, he said that it is important to always remember that both the Executive and the National Assembly will benefit politically from a budget that successfully turns the Nigerian economy around and brings prosperity to the people.
According to him, now that the country’s economy has entered a recession, stakeholders should all agree on prudent allocation of resources to key capital projects that will help to lift the economy out of recession and onto the path of sustainable growth.
“All the key stakeholders must understand and appreciate the overall budgetary constraints as well as implications of some fiscal trade-offs,” the Minister said.
Mr Udoma, at the ‘Gallery Colloquium’ organised by Orderpaper.com on ‘Budget as a critical tool for effective Executive-Legislative relations’, said the current economic situation in the country provides an opportunity like never before, for the two arms of government to set a template for succeeding governments on how national interest can be placed ahead of institutional contests.
“The National Assembly must not see itself as in competition with the Executive,” he advised.
Explaining the budgetary process, Mr Udoma said that the President, as the leader of the country, has the ultimate responsibility of delivering economic benefits to Nigerians in an all-inclusive manner based on his mandate or manifesto; therefore it is his responsibility to drive the process by setting out the framework of the Budget and all the heads of expenditure.
“It is also his role, as President, to articulate the national vision guiding the budget. And he must get each annual budget right because he has opportunity to produce only three more budgets before his tenure comes to an end,” he added.
The Minister said that in processing and considering the Budget estimates therefore, the National Assembly should see themselves as working as partners with the President to achieve the national aspirations set out by the President.
“In doing so, the question of which arm of government is superior in budget formulation should not arise, as everyone’s objective must be the success of the government in bringing the dividends of democracy to the people,” he indicated.
According to him, at this time in particular, the President needs the strong support of the Legislature to implement the tough decisions required to stimulate this economy and bring it to sustainable inclusive growth, not dependent on the vagaries of the oil price.
While maintaining that the two arms of government have a major role to play in bringing economic prosperity to the people, the Minister called attention to the fact that if the government fails, neither the Executive nor the National Assembly can completely escape the blame.
He however was confident that the members of the National Assembly appreciate the economic situation facing the country as a result of the failure over the last thirty years to successfully diversify the Nigerian economy from dependence on crude oil.
Government, he said, has a plan not just to get the economy out of recession but also back on the path of sustainable growth. Adding, the plan involves injecting a fiscal stimulus to provide funding for the 2016 Budget, which was carefully designed to reflate the economy but unfortunately has been affected by revenue shortfalls.
The Minister further stated, “It is important to stay the course in implementing the major structural changes which had been outlined by the Government in our Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP). The spending priorities in the 2017 Budget will be guided by the objectives we set out in the SIP”.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara agreed that there was need for an effective collaboration between the Executive and the Legislature in the budgetary process to reduce the usual friction between them during the process of appropriation.
Dogara who was making some remarks on ‘Legislative perspectives on the budget process’ said that a review of how annual budgets or Appropriation Bills have been prepared and executed in Nigeria since 1999 will reveal an unsatisfactory state of affairs, adding that there was an urgent need for Budget Reform in Nigeria.
He therefore suggested a review of the legal framework to ensure that the annual budget is submitted and passed on time before the commencement of the next financial years; a clear development plan with broad national consensus; extensive stakeholder consultation at the executive level during preparation of the budget; clear budgetary objectives and government targets to be achieved should be clearly spelt out; and there should be a robust pre-budget interface between the Executive and the Legislature to reduce areas of friction during the appropriation process, among others.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended rallied by 1.18 per cent on Friday, May 8, its fifth in a row for this week.
During the session, the market capitalisation increased by N28.96 billion to N2.488 trillion from N2.459 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) jumped by 48.39 points to 4,158.77 points from the 4,110.38 points recorded a day earlier.
The growth witnessed yesterday was spurred by the gains recorded by six securities, led by 11 Plc, which chalked up N11.00 to sell at 221.10 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N210.10 per unit. FrislandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N10.26 to close at N132.98 per share compared with the previous day’s N127.06 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc rose by N2.82 to N75.90 per unit from N73.08 per unit.
In addition, Lighthouse Financial Services Plc appreciated by 7 Kobo to 86 Kobo per share from 81 Kobo per share, UBN Property Plc climbed higher by 5 Kobo to N2.25 per unit from N2.20 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc gained 2 Kobo to close at N2.32 per share, in contrast to the previous session’s N2.30 per share.
Conversely, Geo-Fluids Plc went down by 20 Kobo to N2.90 per unit from N3.10 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 5 Kobo to end at N16.95 per share versus N17.00 per share.
The volume of transactions for the session surged by 41.8 per cent to 528,891 units from 372,916 units, and the value grew by 11.4 per cent to N34.0 million from N30.4 million, while the number of deals slid by 7.4 per cent to 25 deals from 27 deals.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion. Resourcery Plc occupied the second spot after trading 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and the third position was occupied by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.5 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock exchange reversed the previous day’s loss, with a 2.10 per cent surge on Friday as a result of demand for large-cap equities like Dangote Cement, First Holdco and others.
It was observed that apart from the insurance counter, which shed 0.37 per cent, every other sector closed higher yesterday.
The industrial goods index expanded by 7.26 per cent, the banking segment increased by 3.35 per cent, the consumer goods industry rose by 0.21 per cent, and the energy sector soared by 0.14 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited improved by 5,041.22 points to 244,775.83 points from 239,734.61 points, and the market capitalisation added N3.235 trillion to settle at N157.094 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N153.859 trillion.
The quintet of Neimeth, Cadbury Nigeria, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, Mecure, and Dangote Cement led the advancers’ table on Friday, with 10.00 per cent growth each to quote at N9.90, N72.60, N3.52, N72.60, and N1,088.00, respectively.
On the flip side, the duo of UAC Nigeria and Industrial and Medical Gases lost 10.00 per cent each to sell for N171.00 and N42.30, respectively, as Eterna declined by 9.93 per cent to N33.55, Learn Africa slipped by 9.89 per cent to N8.20, and Deap Capital tripped by 9.69 per cent to N5.50.
The most active stock for the day was VFD Group, with a turnover of 102.9 million units valued at N1.1 billion. FCMB transacted 99.4 million units worth N1.1 billion, UBA traded 94.5 million units for N3.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 85.4 million units worth N2.0 billion, and Zenith Bank sold 46.5 million units valued at N5.8 billion.
At the close of trades, market participants traded 1.1 billion units worth N55.0 billion in 69,996 deals, in contrast to the 1.8 billion units valued at N72.2 billion transacted in 81,131 deals a day earlier, showing a crash in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 38.89 per cent, 23.82 per cent, and 13.73 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira fell against the US Dollar by N5.54 or 0.41 per cent to N1,361.39/$1 from N1,355.85/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, May 8.
The domestic currency also depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.50 to trade at N1,853.68/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,845.18/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N9.37 to sell for N1,602.63/€1 versus N1,593.26/€1.
However, at the GTBank FX desk, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar yesterday by N3 to quote at N1,372/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing value of N1,375/$1, and at the parallel market, it traded flat at N1,380/$1.
Despite the volatile outcome of the local currency, it remained within the expected trading range, reflecting sustained FX stabilisation efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), supported by improved liquidity, stronger autonomous inflows, and better price discovery.
Traders point to further gains for the Naira into the coming week, thanks to Dollar supply from foreign investors, exporters and oil companies, while demand is moderate. Nigerian yields are still attractive for foreign investors, serving as a basis for more (FX) flows coming to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the country’s external reserves dropped by 3.4 per cent to $48.32 billion, from a 2009 high of $50.02 billion recorded on March 11.
In the cryptocurrency market, prices rallied after worries eased, following fresh US airstrikes in Iran that initially sparked a surge in oil prices and a broader risk-off move across crypto markets.
Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.8 per cent to sell at $80,212.54, Solana (SOL) gained 6.5 per cent to sell at $93.76, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 5.1 per cent to $0.2749, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 3.7 per cent to $0.1102, and Ripple (XRP) rose by 3.1 per cent to $1.42.
Further, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 2.3 per cent to $650.16, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 1.6 per cent to $2,315.48, and TRON (TRX) increased by 0.1 per cent to $0.3515, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
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