Economy
FAAC Distributes N 1.152trn to FG, States, Local Councils for March 2024
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
About N1.2 trillion, precisely N1.152 trillion, has been allocated to the federal, state and local governments of the federation by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
This was from the revenue generated last month by the nation through Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), Exchange Difference, Value Added Tax (VAT) and others.
The money was shared among the beneficiaries at the FAAC meeting for March 2024 held in Abuja on Thursday, with the N1.152 trillion comprising distributable statutory revenue of N101.349 billion, distributable VAT revenue of N428.806 billion, EMTL revenue of N15.157 billion and ED revenue of N607.444 billion.
A statement issued last night by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Mohammed Manga, disclosed that the total revenue generated by Nigeria in February 2024 was N2.326 trillion, while N66.456 billion was deducted for the cost of collection, with total transfers, interventions and refunds at N856.937 billion, and savings stood at N250.000 billion.
The statement further said the gross statutory revenue of N1.192 trillion was received for February 2024, higher than the N1.151 trillion received in January 2024 by N 40.620 billion.
It said the gross revenue available from VAT last month was N460.487 billion, higher than the N420.733 billion in the preceding month by N39.755 billion.
Explaining how the funds were shared, FAAC said from the N1.152 trillion, the sum of N352.409 billion was given to the federal government, N366.950 billion to the state governments, N267.153 billion to the local councils, and N166.244 billion was given to oil-producing states as 13 per cent derivation.
Also, from the N101.349 billion distributable statutory revenue, the central government got N7.351 billion, the states received N3.729 billion, the LGAs got N2.875 billion, and the benefiting states received N87.394 billion as 13 per cent of mineral revenue.
The federal government received N278.463 billion from the N607.444 billion ED revenue, the state governments got N141.240 billion, the local government councils had N108.891 billion, and the benefiting states received N78.850 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
Further, from the N15.157 billion EMTL earnings, N2.274 billion was given to the national government, N7.578 billion was disbursed to the state governments, and N5.305 billion was shared with the local councils.
In addition, from the VAT revenue of N428.806 billion, the federal government received N64.321 billion, the state governments received N214.403 billion and the local government councils received N150.082 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further slipped against the United States Dollar by N2.33 or 0.17 per cent to N1,364.88/$1 from N1,362.55/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, August 6.
In the same vein, the domestic currency weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market by 71 Kobo yesterday to trade at N1,838.09/£1, in contrast to Wednesday’s value of N1,837.38/£1, but against the Euro, it gained 45 Kobo to close at N1,574.80/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,575.25/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira improved its value against the US Dollar by N4 on Thursday to quote at N1,369/$1 versus midweek”s rate of N1,373/$1, but at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,400/$1.
The NAFEM interbank FX turnover jumped to $98.804 million on Thursday, up by more than 31 per cent from $75.357 million the previous day.
Similarly, the number of deals at the NFEM interbank increased to 106 from 82, confirming higher US Dollar flows at the official FX market.
Traders expect the Naira to hold steady, buoyed by dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), whose presence in the market will help ease demand pressure.
In the cryptocurrency market, major cryptocurrencies were mostly down as the Senate delayed a vote on the Crypto Clarity Act until at least September.
The bill, which would set out which U.S. regulator oversees which digital assets, needs 60 votes to pass, and it is unclear whether it currently has 50. Several Republican senators have said publicly they oppose it, and Democrats want stricter rules preventing President Donald Trump from profiting from crypto while in office.
Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.5 per cent to $1.02, Solana (SOL) depleted by 1.5 per cent to $72.86, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 1.4 per cent to $587.41, Dogecoin (DOGE) tumbled by 0.9 per cent to $0.0692, Bitcoin (BTC) decreased by 0.6 per cent to $64,344.69, and Ethereum (ETH) tumbled by 0.3 per cent to $1,902.03.
However, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 7.7 per cent to $0.2025, and TRON (TRX) rose by 0.3 per cent to $0.3267, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
Buying interest in consumer goods, energy and banking stocks further raised the Customs Street by 0.12 per cent on Thursday despite profit-taking in the insurance and industrial goods sectors.
According to data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the banking index grew by 0.62 per cent, the consumer goods space rose by 0.15 per cent, and the energy counter increased by 0.06 per cent, while the insurance sector crashed by 0.93 per cent, with the industrial goods segment flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 297.10 points to 245,209.34 points from 244,912.24 points, and the market capitalisation gained N191 billion to finish at N158.278 trillion compared with the previous day’s N158.087 trillion.
Eterna led the gainers’ log yesterday after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to settle at N36.30, ACA Capital improved by 9.63 per cent to N11.95, Legend Internet expanded by 9.52 per cent to N4.60, FCMB jumped by 8.55 per cent to N12.70, and Honeywell Flour surged by 7.98 per cent to N17.60.
On the flip side, Fortis Global Insurance led the losers’ chart after it shed 10.00 per cent to trade at N2.52, Ecobank declined by 9.99 per cent to N72.10, Chellarams depleted by 9.85 per cent to N11.90, Thomas Wyatt dipped by 9.83 per cent to N3.21, and UPDC slipped by 8.45 per cent to N3.25.
During the trading day, 531.8 million shares worth N20.5 billion exchanged hands in 44,826 deals compared with the 824.1 million shares valued at N25.5 billion transacted in 48,114 deals on Wednesday.
This indicated that the volume of trades was down by 35.47 per cent, the value of transactions depreciated by 19.61 per cent, and the number of deals decreased by 6.83 per cent.
The busiest stock for the session was FCMB, which traded 131.7 million units for N1.6 billion, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units worth N6.0 billion, AVA Capital exchanged 36.3 million units valued at N432.0 million, Chams traded 36.3 million units sold 36.3 million units valued at N149.8 million, and Access Holdings ended with a turnover of 24.4 million units worth N638.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Brent crude rose by 3.83 per cent or $3.04 to $82.29 per barrel on Thursday after an information that an Iranian parliament committee was reviewing a bill that would ban US and Israeli vessels from the Strait of Hormuz.
Also, the price of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went up by 81 cents or 1.05 per cent to $77.29 per barrel during the session.
Under the apparent draft, Iran would ban American and Israeli ships from transiting the strait. Other nations that have harmed Iran would not be allowed to transit until compensation is paid, according to the draft. Iran would impose penalties on violators equivalent to 20 per cent of the value of cargo aboard a ship.
Market analysts noted that crude traders remain focused on the US-Iran agreements, and the longer the delays, the more prices will fade back to the upside.
Iran has warned Gulf states that any new US attack on its territory would trigger attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the region.
Before the Iran conflict began in late February, about one-fifth of global daily oil and liquefied natural gas supplies flowed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis said they carried out missile and drone attacks on “Saudi deployments” in Marib and Hadramout in Yemen on Thursday. This has led to elimination of Saudi-aligned fighters as well as destruction of military camps, weapons depots and vehicles.’
Also, Iran and Oman appear to be close to agreeing on joint management of the Strait of Hormuz with Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, saying the deal with Oman was “in the final stages.”
Saudi Arabia has slightly lowered the official selling price for its flagship Arab Light crude oil to Asia in September.
Elsewhere, a major oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region was on fire after a big Ukrainian drone attack. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the country’s military had hit two Russian oil refineries – the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in the republic of Bashkortostan, and the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in the Yaroslavl region.
