The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, on Tuesday disclosed that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration had, from the money raised by Debt Management Office (DMO) from the capital market, paid N4.8 trillion out of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means it inherited from the past administrations.
Edun, who made this disclosure during the Ministerial Press Briefing on the achievements of his Ministry over the past year of the new government, said that another tranche of N2.5 trillion would be paid in the second quarter of this year.
According to him, the efforts works towards bringing the Ways and Means balance within legal limits and progressed to the final approval stages of a $2.25 billion single-digit interest loan from the World Bank for a 40-year-term with 10 years moratorium at 1% interest rate.
He pointed out that based on the improved fiscal discipline, the administration has been fulfilling its debt service obligations to foreign and domestic creditors without resorting to Ways and Means Account
Edun listed some of such payments as including the outstanding commitments/shareholding to multilateral development banks (MDBs) and international organizations, including over US$200 million to the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
He also spoke on the recently launched National Single Window (NSW), which is a technology platform for trade facilitation and import administration, with the potential of annual economic benefit of US$2.7 billion.
The minister also spoke on the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee (PFPTRC) which, he said, was in the process of tax harmonization and streamlining of tax collection processes and broadening tax net and reducing the incidents of multiplicity of taxes to the barest minimum in the country.
Briefing on the Oil Revenue Increases, the Minister noted that Oil revenue of N1.1 trillion was achieved in the first quarter of 2024, as against N460 billion in the same period of the preceding year (2023).
On improvement in oil revenue to government coffers, Edun explained that the improved earnings from crude oil exports was based on improved oil production, which increased to 1.7mbp/d in the first quarter of this year from 1.3mbpd in June 2023.
He expatiated: “The impressive revenue record of the period under consideration was made possible by the introduction of technology-driven strategy systems to automatically deduct revenue due to
FGN.
“Similarly, the FGN has earned more FX income under the new revenue model.
“Specifically, the Nigeria Customs Service recorded unprecedented increases in the first quarter 87% Increase in 2023 revenue mobilization, as well as a 122% revenue increase in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023,” Edun added.
On other fiscal frontiers explored by the administration to improve fiscal efficiency, the Minister disclosed that the Federal Inland Revenue recorded a 107% achievement on the 2023 target and a 56% revenue improvement in Q1 2024 compared to the corresponding quarter of last year.
He said: “The administration launched the Incentives Monitoring & Evaluation Platform (IMEP) to prevent the misuse of tax incentives by blocking and limiting access to those who do not qualify for the incentives.
“We also strengthened the implementation of fiscal policies around the Import Duty Tax Incentive to boost key economic sectors and deliver more sustainable socio-economic impacts,” Edun added.
On Domestic USD Bond Issuance, the Minister revealed that the President had issued an executive order for local issuance of foreign-denominated securities, adding that “the issuance of the first domestic foreign currency debt instrument is being processed by the capital market firms in a move that will showcase the resilience of Nigerian capital markets.”
He maintained that the bonds would be mainly marketed to both Nigerian and non-Nigerian investors with foreign exchange balances abroad.
