Economy
Effective Plan-Budget Link Critical To Development—Mede
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs Nana Fatima Mede, has described effective plan-budget link as critical for attaining inclusive growth.
Mrs Mede stated this in her remarks during a Specialised Training Programme on Strategic Planning and Effective Linkage to Budgeting Process, organized by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in Kano.
She said it was clear that the role of strategic planning and effective linkage to budgeting process was very critical towards the realisation of the aspirations of any nation.
Mrs Mede, represented at the occasion by Alhaji Aminu Yargaya, Assistant Director (Plans), Macroeconomic Analysis Department in the Ministry, further said, “Studies have shown that countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc that have consistently been implementing National Development Plans are successful in attaining inclusive growth and sustainable development.”
She explained that, the training was organised for officers of Federal MDAs, as part of a continuous re-training and development programme to sharpen the skills of officers for improved service delivery.
“This training is one of the key activities designed to be undertaken by the Ministry, with a view to enhance the competence of technical officers in the areas of plan formulation, implementation, policy analysis and forecasting,” she said.
Accordingly, Mrs Mede disclosed also that, the training is also aimed at improving officers’ skills in preparing budgets using the Zero-Based-Budgeting Approach and also putting the officers through the process of linking the budget with the plan, since annual budget is the instrument through which the plan is being implemented as the former takes cue from the later.
While buttressing the fact that, a good budget is a product of good plan, the Permanent Secretary stated that, “As you are aware, the nation is currently facing economic crises as commodity prices, especially oil prices have declined drastically with negative consequences on government revenues.
“This explains the need for effective planning and budget implementation in order to achieve value for money, as expenditures are tied only to the country’s needs for maximum impact on the lives of citizens.
“This is buttressed by the introduction of such economic and fiscal instruments as Zero-based- Budgeting (ZBB), Treasury Single Account (TSA), BVN, restructuring the budget framework in favour of capital expenditure among others.”
She also described the low level of implementation of National Development Plans, as well as Annual Budgets as an issue not unconnected with capacity gaps identified in the Public Service.
The Perm Sec explained that, as a result, in some cases, MDAs are not able to effectively formulate credible Sector Plans or Annual Budgets nor are they able to implement them effectively.
While commending the merger of the former National Planning Commission with the Budget Office of the Federation, Mrs Mede said that in the past, bureaucracy and lack of effective collaboration between government agencies had hindered effective Plan-Budget link, as such emphasised that the merged agencies must work as one to succeed for the good of the country.
Underscoring the imperative of the training exercise, she pointed out that the challenges experienced last year by the Ministry’s Technical Officers in assisting Federal MDAs to prepare their 2016 Budgets necessitated for it, especially now that government is seeking urgent measures to reduce economic waste in the face of the current recession, thereby creating more value for the government.
The Kano training was the second batch in the series of the capacity building for the Budget officers of the MDAs, after Lagos batch that was conducted earlier in October.
Some key recommendations that arose from the first batch of this training in Lagos were; the Budget Division of MDAs should be domiciled in the Planning, Research and Statistics Department; the efforts being made by the Federal Government in improving the budgeting process is commendable, but there is need for better synergy between the Executive and Legislative arms of Government in this regard and the Planning, Research and Statistics should be made a cadre in the Public Service to enhance project planning and implementation
Others were; sustainability should be mainstreamed into project implementation in the country, In addition, measuring performance of budget releases to MDAs should be based on results of the projects as against the current practice of measuring the amount of money spent; and the process of projects selection should be based on the needs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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