Economy
FG Reveals 10-Point Roadmap To Save Economy
**To Return Toll Gates
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Federal Government has revealed steps it hopes to take to salvage the country’s economy, which has been battling with recession for months.
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, who spoke at an event in Lagos, disclosed that the FG would focus on 10 points to help Nigeria out of the economic downturn.
Mrs Adeosun, who represented the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, at the annual dinner of the Lagos Business School, noted that the 10-point roadmap would address the major problems dragging the economy backward.
According to her, the Federal Government’s Fiscal Roadmap will tackle obstructions to growth that will drive productivity, generate jobs and broaden wealth creating opportunities to achieve inclusive growth.
She said further that much attention would be focused on infrastructure deficit to unlock productivity, improve business competitiveness and create employment.
“Government would actively partner with the private sector to achieve this by use of a number of new funding platforms. These include the Road Trust Fund, which will develop potentially ‘tollable’ roads, and the Family Homes Fund which is an ongoing PPP initiative for funding of affordable housing,” she said at the event.
She added that the tax system would be reviewed to ensure companies get tax relief for investment in roads on a collective basis, subject to approval by FIRS and the Ministry of Works.
According to the Minister, only two firms, Dangote and Lafarge have only been able to get such.
Mrs Adeosun listed the government’s 10-point roadmap as follows:
The fiscal roadmap is detailed in the attached 10-point plan:
Fiscal Roadmap 2017
Fiscal Policy Initiative
Expected Impact
- Recognise inherited debt profile after a robust audit process:
- Introduce promissory note programme to finance verified liabilities
- Issue debt certificates to contractors, Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDAs), and State Governments
- Improve cash flow of businesses
- Improve Banks’ Non-Performing Loans (NPLs)
- Free up Banks’ balance sheet for lending to private sector
- Improve government’s business interaction with the private sector
- Mobilise private capital to complement Government spending on infrastructure:
- Roads Trust Fund
- Family Homes Fund
- Extend infrastructure tax relief to a collective model to attract clusters of corporate entities
- Expand the provision of infrastructure
- Drive growth of non-oil sector.
- Drive economic growth
- Strengthen fiscal/monetary handshake:
- Replace administrative measures on list of 41-items with fiscal measures to reduce demand pressure in parallel market
- Encourage domestic food production through specific incentives e.g. accelerated depreciation on food manufacturing equipment and Zero (0%) duty on green houses
- Planned revitalisation of refineries
- Increase Diaspora remittances via participation in the buyer support scheme for the Family Homes Fund
- Reduce demand for US Dollars
- Increase supply of US Dollars
- Incentivise exports:
- Restructure the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) to a tax credit system
- Rationalise tariffs and waivers in key export sectors
- Encourage/incentivise non-oil exports
- Drive import substitution
- Encourage investment in specific sectors through fiscal incentives:
- Accelerated depreciation on equipment in strategic sectors e.g. food processing, mining and power
- Rationalise tariffs and waivers in priority sectors
- Drive investment in strategic sectors
- Continue expansion of fiscal space through revenue enhancement and cost consolidation:
- Customs Single Window (being implemented through a Private Public Partnership (PPP) scheme)
- Template for non-allowable expenses for government agencies.
- Overhead cost control by the Efficiency Unit
- Continuous risk based audit by the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit
- Revenue enhancement
- Cost containment
- Improve fiscal discipline at Sub-National level:
- Extension of efficiency unit at Sub-National level
- Fast track municipal bond issues to deepen the bond market
- Conversion to International Public Sector Accounting Standards by all State Governments.
- Improved fiscal position at Sub-National level
- Enable and accelerate Recoveries process:
- Whistle-blower scheme
- Centralised database on recovered assets
- Asset tracing
- Professional management of recovered assets
- Increased efficiency of Recoveries process
- Increased budgetary funding availability from Recoveries
- Rebalance debt portfolio to extend maturity and optimise debt service cost:
- Rebalance public debt portfolio with increased external borrowing (60:40 target)
- Extend maturity profile of public debt portfolio
- Deploy long-term debt instruments including Infrastructure and Retail Bonds
- Maximise use of concessionary loans
- Rebalanced debt profile withimproved debt service to revenue ratio
- Catalyse Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) growth through specific measures to improve capacity and access to finance:
- Development Bank of Nigeria (US$1.3bn)
- Increase share of business awarded to MSMEs from Government contracts
- Tax harmonisation and tax incentives
- Accelerated depreciation
By Adedapo Adesanya
The positive run of the Naira against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) continued on Wednesday, June 3, with the former chalking up N3.79 or 0.28 per cent against the latter, closing at N1,357.26, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,361.05/$1.
Similarly, the Nigerian currency gained N10.52 against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session to close at N1,822.67/£1 compared with the previous rate of N1,833.19/£1, and appreciated against the Euro by N9.56 to N1,574.83/€1 from N1,584.39/€1.
Further, at the black market, the Naira improved its value against the greenback at midweek by N5 to trade at N1,375/$1 compared with the N1,380/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank FX counter, it gained N6 to sell for N1,372/$1 versus N1,378/$1.
The boost came as the country’s external reserves continued to gain momentum. A look at the updated data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that foreign reserves continue to increase with two consecutive inflows in June 2026, settling at $49.876 billion as of Tuesday.
Foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporates continue to keep the supply side strong, with the less aggressive FX interventions by the CBN at the official window in recent times helping to ease worries about capital flight.
The apex bank reported that interbank FX turnover declined to $133.731 million across 136 deals, from $169.822 million the previous day.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained bearish due to sell-offs triggered by geopolitical uncertainties and the US stock market rally.
Cardano (ADA) dipped by 5.5 per cent to $0.2046, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 4.8 per cent to $627.56, Solana (SOL) shrank by 3.9 per cent to $72.99, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 2.9 per cent to $1,844.53, and Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 2.7 per cent to $65,675.87.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) depleted by 1.4 per cent to $0.0928, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.7 per cent to $1.21, and TRON (TRX) lost 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.3336, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) gained 0.01 each to settle at $0.9986 and $0.9997, respectively.
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock market further depleted by 1.44 per cent on Wednesday following panic sell-offs by investors, who are cutting down their exposure to local equities.
Business Post observed that profit-taking dominated Customs Street at midweek, with all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closing in red.
The insurance space shed 2.76 per cent, the industrial goods index lost 1.55 per cent, the banking counter declined by 1.53 per cent, the consumer goods segment shrank by 0.28 per cent, and the energy sector weakened by 0.05 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 3,554.05 points to 243,132.61 points from 246,686.66 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N2.279 trillion to N155.940 trillion from N158.219 trillion.
Lafarge Africa led the losers’ chart yesterday after it gave up 9.97 per cent to trade at N307.90, Zichis lost 9.82 per cent to close at N29.20, Learn Africa depreciated by 9.80 per cent to N11.50, John Holt crashed by 9.80 per cent to N13.80, and Consolidated Hallmark dipped by 8.84 per cent to N6.19.
On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank topped the gainers’ log after it grew by 9.93 per cent to N7.75, International Energy Insurance appreciated by 9.89 per cent to N6.00, Tripple G gained 9.80 per cent to sell for N4.37, Universal Insurance expanded by 8.91 per cent to N1.10, and Royal Exchange improved by 7.14 per cent to N1.50.
A total of 17 stocks gained weight yesterday, while 43 stocks lost weight, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment. This has been the mood of the market since the beginning of this week.
Market participants transacted 923.0 million shares worth N42.3 billion in 69,332 deals on Wednesday, in contrast to the 718.8 million shares valued at N29.3 billion traded in 71,683 deals on Tuesday, representing a drop in the number of deals by 3.28 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 28.41 per cent and 44.37 per cent, respectively.
Sterling Holdings led the activity chart with 264.6 million units valued at N2.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 76.7 million units worth N1.8 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 55.1 million units for N99.2 million, VFD Group sold 35.5 million units worth N378.8 million, and Ellah Lakes transacted 33.1 million units valued at N334.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose around 2 per cent on Wednesday as hostilities in the Middle East erupted anew and talks between Iran and the United States showed little progress.
Brent futures grew by $1.81 or 1.89 per cent to $97.81 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed $2.26 or 2.41 per cent to $96.02 a barrel.
According to reports, Iran launched ballistic missiles toward regional neighbours Kuwait and Bahrain, killing one person and injuring dozens, while the US forces conducted strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island.
Iranian drones and missiles struck Kuwait International Airport overnight, causing the country to immediately suspend air traffic, activate emergency procedures, and divert flights to alternative airports.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the operation was retaliation for recent US military actions and warned that regional states supporting American operations could face further consequences. Kuwait hosts major US military facilities and serves as a key logistics hub for American operations across the Middle East, but until then had largely avoided becoming a direct target.
Following the overnight attack, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) called for a united Gulf stance.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Iran had agreed not to have a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was involved in negotiations. He has insisted this week that discussions remain active and said a broader agreement could emerge within days, while Iranian officials have delivered contradictory messages.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said contacts with American representatives have not been cut off, but no progress has been made in the negotiations.
The prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to bottleneck global energy supplies, driving sustained upward pressure on oil markets.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that global oil inventories could hit critical levels ahead of peak summer demand if stock draws continue at their current pace.
Crude oil inventories in the US decreased by 8.0 million barrels during the week ending May 29, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The EIA’s data release follows figures by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories saw a draw of 6.75 million barrels in the period.
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