Economy
Nigeria’s Revenue to GDP Ratio Hits 8%, Targets 15% 2023
By Dipo Olowookere
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said at the moment, the revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria stands at 8 percent, promising to increase this ratio to 15 percent by the end of the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
Mrs Ahmed made this disclosure on Thursday at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank annual meeting in Washington DC, in the United States of America (USA).
During her remarks, the Minister said part of ways to meet this target is to increase the revenue streams of the country by introducing taxes and expanding the present tax base.
She said it was necessary for the country, which is Africa’s largest economy, to move away from relying solely on crude oil to generate revenue.
According to her, Nigeria’s economy is too dependent on the oil and gas sector, which accounts for just about 10 percent of GDP and represents 94 percent of export earnings and 62 percent of both federal and state governments’ revenues in 2011-2015. She said the country went into recession because the sector suffered shortfall, which dragged the foreign exchange reserves down to $25 billion in November 2016 from $32 billion in January 2015 from a high of $53 billion in 2008.
The Minister said it was because of this economic crisis government came up with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in 2017 to diversify the economy and create an enabling business environment.
She noted that since the launch of the 4-year ERGP, “We have recorded year on year improvement on both revenue outturns and revenue to GDP ratio.
“Our revenue outturn as at December 2019 55 percent while it was 58 percent as at June 2019. Our revenue to GDP ratio on the other hand is 8 percent as at end of June 2019 while it was 5 percent as at December 2017.”
According to her, based on the success made so far, the federal government in 2018 launched the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGI), which provides a turnaround blueprint and mechanism that brings together revenue generating entities to review implementation progress.
The Minister said the SRGI was built on three thematic areas including: (1) to achieve sustainability in revenue generation (2) identify new and enforce existing revenue streams and (3) achieve cohesion through people and tools.
She said the initiative includes some cross-cutting enablers including data and technology, performance management and enabling laws and legislations.
“Although, the SRGI contained a robust set of initiatives that was cascaded down as program portfolios to revenue generating entities, it lacked the opportunity sizing of the incremental revenues to be achieved
practically and realistically, given the current and projected structure of the Nigerian economy. This also made it difficult to in turn cascade down the revenue to GDP target of 15 percent by 2023 that was given by the presidency.
“This time around, there are performance targets with consequences for non-performance including the members of the cabinet. For example, I have signed to deliver the 15 percent revenue to GDP in a performance contract and this will be cascaded down to Heads of revenue generating entities to have them aligned to our mission of turning around revenues,” Mrs Ahmed said.
The Minister assured that government will continue to build on the gradual growth in economy, which has recorded nine consecutive quarters of GDP increase, with the annual growth rising from 0.82 percent in 2017 to 1.93 percent in 2018, and 2.02 percent in the first half of 2019.
She attributed this to “our economy’s resilience and gives credence to the effectiveness of our economic policies thus far.”
“We also succeeded in significantly reducing inflation from a peak of 18.72 percent in January 2017, to 11.02 percent by August 2019. This was achieved through effective fiscal and monetary policy coordination, exchange rate stability and sensible management of our foreign exchange.
“We have sustained accretion to our external reserves, which have risen from $23 billion in October 2016 to about $42.5 billion by August 2019,” she added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira sold at N1,343.64/$1 Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 17, after shedding N1.34 or 0.10 per cent against the greenback from the previous day’s rate of N1,342.30/$1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N5.03 to quote at N1,824.39/£1 versus the previous rate of N1,819.36/£1, and lost N10.05 against the Euro to sell at N1,591.14/€1 versus N1,581.09/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N1,355/$1, and it also maintained stability in the parallel market at N1,375/$1.
Interbank liquidity increased to N124.34 million from N74.255 million the previous day, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed.
Meanwhile, external reserves remain at $48.70 billion, down from the 2009 peak of $50 billion amidst uncertainties in the global commodities market.
Global oil prices dropped sharply on Friday after Iran signalled that the Strait of Hormuz would remain open to commercial shipping during a temporary ceasefire in the Middle East.
Crypt assets also gained on the news from Iran’s foreign minister, who declared the Strait of Hormuz open, drawing a positive response from President Donald Trump. The development helped ease worry around risky assets like crypto.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish, as traders weighed possible scenarios ahead of next week’s US-Iran cease-fire deadline.
Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 3.2 per cent to $2,410.53, Bitcoin (BTC) jumped by 2.8 per cent to $77,124.22, Ripple (XRP) rose by 2.7 per cent to $1.47, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 2.5 per cent to $643.97, Dogecoin (DOGE) added 1.0 per cent to close at $0.0988, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.2578, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.4 per cent to $88.53, and TRON (TRX) gained 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.3275, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices plunged by 9 per cent on Friday after Iran said passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz was open for the remaining ceasefire period.
Brent crude futures lost $9.01 or 9.07 per cent to trade at $90.38 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by $10.48 or 11.45 per cent to finish at $83.85 a barrel.
Iran said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” for the remainder of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, bolstering hopes of a breakthrough in the weeks-long crisis over the crucial oil route.
Iran had maintained its blockade of the strait despite a two-week ceasefire with the US, which expires on Tuesday, and previously said it would not open the key waterway while Israel continued to strike Lebanon.
Business Post had reported that oil prices weakened to around $88 per barrel after Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X that “all commercial vessels” would be allowed to pass through the strait throughout the remainder of the ten-day ceasefire in Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump thanked Iran on Truth Social, but stressed that the US naval blockade of the regime’s ports would remain “in full force and effect” until a peace deal was completed. “This process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated,” he added.
A second round of truce talks between the US and Iran is expected to take place as oil tankers are beginning to test the waters at the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the fact that all ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz, this passage needs to be coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Market analysts noted that if these initial tankers make it through, flows will begin to partially normalise. However, a handful of vessels does not equal restored capacity. The backlog alone will take significant time to clear, and producers across the region are still dealing with disrupted output and logistics.
Prices had already fallen earlier in the Friday session as possible further talks between the US and Iran over the weekend and a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel raised investors’ hopes that the war in the Middle East could be nearing an end.
The American President also said on Friday that the US has banned Israel from further bombing in Lebanon, using a harsher tone than usual with the longtime US ally.
By Dipo Olowookere
The daily stock trading hours on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) have been expanded by an hour to 4.00 pm after extensive stakeholder engagement, ensuring alignment and operational readiness ahead of the go-live date.
A statement from the bourse on Friday said the extension was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Before now, trading activity on Customs Street resumed from 9.30 am to 2:30 pm, but from Monday, April 27, 2026, the resumption time would be 9.00 am, and the closing gong would be struck by 4.00 pm from Monday to Friday.
It was explained that this action was taken “to deepen market liquidity, enhance price discovery, and broaden investor access.”
The NGX has witnessed renewed investor interest due to increased awareness of equities lately, especially as the nation and the global community await the much-anticipated listing of Dangote Refinery shares later in the year, all things being equal.
The statement also noted that this extended trading window would provide greater flexibility for investors, improve responsiveness to market-moving information, and support broader participation across the market.
The development builds on the momentum of Nigeria’s recent reclassification to Frontier Market status by FTSE Russell, reinforcing NGX’s global positioning and enhancing its attractiveness to a broader pool of domestic and international investors.
It further stated that this reform reflects strong regulatory collaboration and underscores the SEC’s continued commitment to advancing market development initiatives. Alongside Nigeria’s Frontier Market reclassification, it signals a deliberate shift towards a more accessible, liquid, and globally competitive market.
With this development, NGX reinforces its position as a leading multi-asset exchange, deepening liquidity, improving market access, and supporting efficient capital formation within Nigeria’s financial markets.
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