Economy
Nigeria’s Revenue-to-GDP Ratio Too Low for Economic Growth—IMF
By Dipo Olowookere
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Nigeria’s revenue–to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of about 9 per cent was too low to trigger the economic growth projected by President Bola Tinubu in his Renewed Hope Agenda.
Addressing journalists at its last press briefing for 2023 on Thursday, the global lender said the administration of Mr Tinubu must boost the government’s revenue to have funds to achieve his goals.
On May 29, 2023, Mr Tinubu took over from Mr Muhammadu Buhari, promising to jump-start the economy and work tirelessly to address food security, end hunger, eradicate poverty, create jobs, and help the most vulnerable members of society
To kick start, he removed the payment of subsidies for petrol and adopted a foreign exchange liberalisation policy, though the exchange rate between the official and the black markets remains wide (N843.07/$1 at NAFEM and N1,180/$1 at the black market.)
At the briefing yesterday, the IMF Director for Communications Department, Ms Julie Kozak, praised Mr Tinubu for the “two bold and important reforms shortly.”
However, she stressed that the revenue-to-GDP ratio must be improved to “create fiscal space for social and development spending.”
“Raising revenue from the very current low revenue to GDP ratio of 9 per cent is essential to create fiscal space for social and development spending.
“Nine per cent of GDP is a very low revenue-to-GDP ratio, and it is not high enough to be able to support strong social safety nets and development spending, to help protect vulnerable households and also to meet Nigeria’s development needs.
“The 2024 budget aims to reduce the fiscal deficit while also creating space for these priority spendings, both on the social side and also on the development side,” she said.
While commenting on the rising inflation in the country, Ms Kozak said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have to raise the monetary policy rate (MPC) at its next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
Recall that last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said inflation in October 2023 increased by 27.33 per cent, while the MPC at its last meeting in July pegged the benchmark interest rate at 18.75 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is currently in talks with the World Bank for a fresh $1.25 billion loan in June 2026.
According to a document titled Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration, the proposed loan will finance ongoing economic reforms, job creation, and competitiveness.
Already, talks are at the critical stage for the loan facility expected to be presented for approval on June 26, 2026. The loan has progressed beyond the initial concept and appraisal phases.
If approved, it will come off as the second-largest loan facility after the approval of the ‘$1.5bn Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing’ approved by the Bank in June 2024.
The borrower is listed as the Federal Republic of Nigeria, while the Federal Ministry of Finance will serve as the implementing agency.
This comes as the country’s debt profile remains high. As of December 31, 2025, external debt stood at $51.86 billion, while Nigeria’s total public debt in dollars is currently at $110.97 billion
The loan is now at the decision-meeting stage of the World Bank’s project cycle, a point at which the lender’s management reviews the final appraisal package and determines whether the project should proceed to the Board of Executive Directors for approval.
This stage comes after appraisal and negotiations have been concluded, with key policy actions, financing terms, and reform commitments already agreed in principle between the borrower and the World Bank team.
In the World Bank process, the decision meeting represents a near-final internal clearance, after which the project is prepared for formal Board consideration, where final approval is granted.
The World Bank document stated, “The review did authorise the team to appraise and negotiate,” meaning the project has successfully passed earlier internal checks and is advancing toward final approval.
According to the global lender, the loan is designed “to support the government’s efforts to expand access to finance, digital, and electricity services, and strengthen competitiveness through tax, trade, and agriculture reforms.”
Under President Bola Tinubu, the World Bank has approved about $9.35 billion in loans and credits for Nigeria between June 2023 and May 2026.
These approvals span multiple sectors, including power, education, healthcare, agriculture, social protection, renewable energy, MSME financing, and economic reform support.
Key packages include the $2.25 billion RESET and ARMOR reform financing in June 2024, $1.57 billion for HOPE and SPIN programmes in September 2024, and $1.08 billion for education and resilience programmes in March 2025.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc boosted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.05 per cent on Monday, May 11.
FrieslandCampina Wamco added N13.07 to sell N146.00 per share versus the previous price of N132.98 per share, and CSCS Plc rose by 10 Kobo to close at N76.00 per unit compared with last Friday’s N75.90 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N26.20 billion to N2.514 trillion from N2.488 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 48.80 points to 4,202.57 points from 4,158.77 points.
The volume of securities bought and sold by market participants decreased by 55.2 per cent yesterday to 236,921 units from 528,891 units, the value of securities slid by 51.5 per cent to N16.5 million from N34.0 million, and the number of deals contracted by 20 per cent to 20 deals from 25 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded 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 transacted for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira opened the week on a negative note on Monday after it depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by 0.86 per cent or N11.77 to sell for N1,373.16/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,361.39/$1.
It also weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N17.39 to quote at N1,871.07/£1 versus last Friday’s rate of N1,853.68/£1, and against the Euro, it slumped by N15.78 to close at N1,618.41/€1 versus N1,602.63/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday, settling at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1. At the GTBank forex desk, it depreciated by N3 to sell at N1,375/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,372/$1.
Nigeria’s external reserves have fallen below $48.4 billion as of May 8, driven by interventions and external obligations by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In the first three weeks of April, the country’s FX reserves lost about $731 million.
Softer liquidity conditions have also dampened foreign investors’ appetite, with data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showing that total foreign exchange inflows declined by 30.1 per cent month-on-month to $2.86 billion in April from $4.09 billion in March. Out of this, foreign inflows weakened by 21.9 per cent to $1.63 billion from $2.09 billion in March.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices were largely up as global equity markets and other risk assets came under pressure. Rising oil prices, higher treasury yields and renewed US-Iran tensions, along with a key inflation report from the world’s largest economy due on Tuesday, applied pressure.
Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 1.5 per cent to $662.80, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.9 per cent to $96.63, Dogecoin (DOGE) added 0.7 per cent to close at $0.1104, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 0.5 per cent to $81,221.78, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.5 per cent to sell at $1.46.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.9 per cent to $2,310.49, Cardano (ADA) weakened by 0.4 per cent to $0.2776, and TRON (TRX) slid by 0.3 per cent to $0.3487, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn