The Nation Newspaper

Category: Money

  • ‘Don’t tax churches, mosques’

    ‘Don’t tax churches, mosques’

    A leading American cleric, Mr John Fare, has called on the Nigerian government to halt its planned imposition of taxes on churches and other religious organisations.

    Fare, who was in the country at the invitation of Our Daily Manner Prayer Ministry, said it was wrong to ask churches and mosques to pay tax to government since they are not manufacturing centres, but exist to care for the well-being of their members.

    He said rather than taxing these bodies, the government should integrate them into its poverty alleviation strategies to achieve greater results. According to him, the government should be part of the poverty alleviation and economic empowerment scheme being championed by these religious bodies. Such activities he said, are helping in the caring for widows and the aged, as practiced in the United States of America.

    The cleric’s reaction came against the backdrop of proposed imposition of taxes on religious organisations for which the Financial Reporting council (FRC) kicked off sensitation with church leaders last year.

    He said: “The US Federal government realises that churches are most effective for helping people, especially the widows and orphans and the aged. The government support what they are doing through subsidies and subventions to complement its economic empowerment programme.”

     

  • Nigeria’s, Tanzania’s T-Bills lead

    Yields are rising on Nigeria’s and Tanzania’s Treasury Bills (TBs), although demand has continued to be strong, according to data posted on the websites of both countries’ Central Bank.

    The average yield-to-maturity for Tanzania was 13.43 per cent on the 364-days bills, 12.86 per cent on the 182-days paper, 11.76 per cent on 91-days and 7.25 per cent on 35 days.

    For Nigeria, it is 12.5 per cent on the 364-days bills, 11.75 per cent on the 182-days paper, 11.6 per cent on 91-days.

    The main investors in government securities in both markets are pension Funds and commercial banks who took more than 60 per cent of the market, followed by insurance funds and a few micro-finance institutions. Treasury bills are issued regularly as part of monetary control measures to help lenders manage their liquidity.

    T-bill is issued through a competitive bidding process are used by the Central Banks to control liquidity in the financial system. It is a short-term debt obligation backed by the government with a maturity of less than one year.

     

  • Mobile payment review’ll foster growth, says NeFF

    The mobile payment system will receive a boost, after the ongoing review of its operational guidelines, the Nigerian electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) has said.

    NeFF Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Obaigbona, said activities in mobile payment industry would take a new dimension after the review.

    The review, he said, would make the mobile payment system productive, remove certain bottlenecks impeding its growth, and make it competitive.

    He said: “The review will help in improving infrastructure, and foster an enduring relationship among telecom companies, licensed mobile payment firms, agents, among other relevant stakeholders in the mobile payment chain. When this happens, the industry is bound to improve in terms of operations and profitability.

    Obaigbona said the review is taking place years after its guidelines were released.

    “From 2003, many guidelines have been released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bring about the necessary growth in the industry. These include Electronic banking guidelines, Point of Sales (PoS) guidelines, Switches guidelines, Automated Teller Machine guidelines, the mobile payment guidelines, among others. But what we are doing is the reviewing of mobile payment guidelines. We hope to conclude it soon. We have gone far on it. It is about to be ready. When it is ready, it would be presented to the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee,” he said.

    According to him, increased attention is being given to the development of the nation’s electronic payment system to strengthening the economy.

    A Senior Official of Shared Office Department, CBN, Mr Chidi Umeano, had earlier told this newspaper that the apex bank would tackle certain problems affecting the mobile payment sub-sector.

    Umeano said infrastructure is one of the major problems facing the mobile payment operators, stressing that there are on-going efforts to address the issue.

    In the same view, the Managing Director, Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Mr Adebisi Shonubi, had in a review of the performance of mobile payment firms, said the value of transactions recorded by the operators has not been too impressive.

     

  • Institute seeks autonomy for state revenue services

    The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) has called on the 36 states to grant autonomy to their internal revenue service units.

    Reviewing the states implementation of last year’s budget, in line with their internally generated revenue (IGR), CITN Registrar/Chief Executive, Abayomi Jayeoba said it was not good enough that only five states gave such units autonomy.

    He said: “As governors get busy with their onerous task of states’ building, it is becoming imperative for them to be mindful of the economic realities and focus more on redefining internal revenue drive by improving the efficiency of revenue collection and administration in their jurisdictions.”

    Evidence, he said, abounds that autonomous revenue service for states has fared relatively better than their non-autonomous counterparts.

    He cited the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) which has been the major funding arm of the government in the past 10 years as a reference point in the state’s drive to improve its IGR.

    LIRS generates over N18 billion monthly, accounting for about 70 per cent of the state’s monthly income receipts, he said.

    Since the Federal Inland Revenue Service is autonomous, it is just a matter of time for non-autonomous states to follow suit, he said.

    He said CITN had met the states on the merits of granting autonomy to their internal revenue agencies.

    He added that unless a revenue agency is independent with powers to carry out its assignments without hindrance but in compliance with dictates of the law, government will continue to lose revenue and will be incapable of performing its socio-economic functions to her citizenry.

    Government policies in increased revenue generation can be best implemented with a state internal revenue service that is autonomous and consisting of professionally competent chartered tax practitioners, he said.

    He admonished the states to look inwards for alternative sources of funding if they are serious to diversify their economy and place little reliance on monthly allocation from Abuja.

     

  • CIBN gets panel to amend law for watchdog role

    The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has raised a committee to amend its Act to enable it to perform certain functions.

    The amendment may not be unconnected with the House of Representatives plan to cede the banking supervisory power of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to the Institute. The Committee, The Nation learnt, is considering the inclusion of a section on privileges to empower its members.

    The CIBN Act 2007 was enacted by the National Assembly. The law stipulates that no person shall be entitled to be employed as head of any of the technical departments of a bank unless he is duly registered as a member of the Institute.

    The Act also states that the Governing Council shall consist of a Chairman, who shall be the President of the Institute; two Vice-Chairmen; National Treasurer; CBN governor or his representative; managing director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) or his representative; six managing directors/chief executive of banks to be appointed by the Council and six persons elected by the Institute.

    Others are two past presidents of the institute; a representative each of the Ministries of Finance; Education; and Mortgage/Micro Finance Banking Institutions (alternates) among others. There is also a representative each of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

    The Chairman, wHouse of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Mr. Jones Onyereri told The Nation on phone that there is need to strengthen the CIBN to play more roles in the financial services sector.

    He said: “With the kind of challenges we have, the time has come that we should separate that function from CBN. Make an independent one; probably the Financial Supervisory Committee, to deal with issues of bank supervision.We need to hear from CIBN and then take it from there.”

    The legislator said it would be an integral focus of the House to ensure that it separates banking supervision function from CBN this year. “The core function of the CBN is really on the monetary policy matter and we would want the bank to intensify its efforts in that area when we separate the banking supervision role from the bank,” Onyereri said.

    He urged CIBN to rise to the challenge of contributing to monetary policy issues.

    CBN Director of Communication, Ugochukwu Okoroafor, said the apex bank was a waiting details of the members’ plan.

    Banking Supervision is being handled by a special unit in the CBN headed by a Director.

    There is a bill before the House, seeking to amend the CBN Act 2007 by transferring the power of its board to approve its budget to the National Assembly. The bill also proposes to reduce the banks’ membership from 12 to seven and to appoint another person, other than the CBN governor, as the chairman of the board.

     

  • ‘National ID’ll curb frauds in banks’

    The Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Mr Chris Onyemenan, has said fraud and related activities in banks would reduce when the country has a national identity database.

    Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, Onyemenan said fraud persisted in the financial system because there was no national identity database in place.

    He said: “By the time Nigeria has a centralised identity management system in place, it would be difficult for people to commit fraud and escape. When there is national identity base on ground, people would have all their details in one place. Their names, pictures, signatures, next of kin, among other information are going to be recorded. It would be easier for banks to get an update information on their customers among other stakeholders in the financial chain.”

    Onyemenan said the cash-less economy programme would succeed with time, noting that countries that have implemented it experienced difficulties at the initial stage.

    “Rome was not built in a day. The Cash-less economic scheme would take some time before it enjoys wide acceptability. Continuous awareness programme is key to the acceptability of the cashless programme in Nigeria,” he said.

     

  • NSE begins trade on retail bond

    NSE begins trade on retail bond

    THE Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday made history as it opened a window for low net -worth investors to enjoy the benefit of investing in bonds.

    Also, it admitted on its Daily Official List the Lagos State’s N80 billion 14.50 per cent fixed rate bond series 1 bond due in 2019.

    Earlier, retail investors have been denied the opportunity of trading in bonds due to the huge sums required and absence of secondary trading platform.Only high net worth and institutional investors have been enjoying benefits of this sector.

    However, retail investor can now access the bonds market with a minimum of N10,000 and enjoy regular returns on investments among other benefits.

    Speaking on the take-off of the retail bond trading on the floor of the NSE, its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Oscar Onyema, expressed satisfaction that the exchange has been able to activate a platform that will allow retail investors participant in fixed income securities market.

    According to him, on the first day of trading, there were 13 trades that involved 510,000 units of bonds worth N600,000.

    “Although it is a small beginning but it has proved the concept that people can trade bond with small amount and investors can take position because it cuts across market makers and brokers-dealers on the floor. Today (last Friday) is the beginning and we expect bigger volume and value traded as we go along,” Onyema said.

    He explained that the NSE retail bonds trading platform would exist alongside the existing over the counter (OTC) market.

    “The retail bond trading is very complementary to the OTC market because the OTC market is very institutional and ticket prices are bigger. What we are doing (through the retail bond trading) is to really try to bring the retail participants into the fixed income market,” he said.

    Listing the benefit of the platform, the NSE chief said it would allow investors to diversify their portfolio and hence manage the risk of exposure into the market using well established channels.

    However, trading last week on the floor of the Exchanged recorded a total of 2.813 billion shares worth N22.188 billion in 33,123 deals as against a total of 2.612 billion shares valued at N19.152 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 27,186 deals.

    The Financial Services sector was the most active during the week, contributing 79.64 per cent to the total equity turnover volume with 2.240 billion shares worth N14.761 billion exchanged hands by investors in 19,656 deals.

    Similarly, the Banking sub-sector of the Financial Services sector was the most active during the week; with 1.583 billion shares worth N12.581 billion traded in 13,629 deals.

    Volume in the Banking sub-sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc, Unity Bank Plc and UBA Plc. Trading in the shares of the three banks accounted for 844.849 million shares, representing 53.37 per cent, 37.71 per cent and 30.03 per cent of the turnover recorded by the sub-sector, sector and total turnover for the week.

    Also traded during the week were 234 units of NewGold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) valued at N595, 491 exchanged hands in five deals in contrast to a total of 196 units valued at N504,481 transacted the previous week in four deals.

    In addition, 610 units of FGN bonds valued at N76,432 were traded during the week in 14 deals. However, there were no transactions in the state/local government bonds and corporate bonds/debentures sectors.

     

  • GTBank promotes alternative banking channels

    Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has established its mobile money product as a preferred option for discerning users of alternative banking channels in the country. In a statement, the bank said its mobile money service has succeeded because of its penetration strategy and partnership with major telecoms companies.

    “The GTBank Mobile Money service is a convenient, secure and affordable way of sending money using a mobile phone. The service can be accessed by users of smart phones through the various app stores or by downloading the Mobile Money application which has been installed on the SIM card of all Etisalat subscribers irrespective of phone type,” it said.

    It said the product allows subscribers to send cash to recipients that do not have bank accounts, who then make withdrawals from any GTBank Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) nationwide. However, the recipient needs mobile phone to experience the service.

    The Managing Director of GTBank, Mr Segun Agbaje, said: “Counting on GTBank’s robust banking platform and advancement in the telecoms industry, the mobile money initiative has gone a step further in bringing banking services closer to the population – especially the unbanked who are more likely to have a mobile phone than a bank account.”

     

     

  • Banks mull funding strategy for power projects

    Banks mull funding strategy for power projects

    Nigerian banks have started a collaboration to develop amenable financing framework that would serve as financial industry’s master template for lending and funding of the power sector.

    The strategic funding plan is being developed under the auspices of the Bankers’ Committee with active participation of top management of banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other key stakeholders.

    The funding strategy is a linchpin in the Bankers’ Committee’s programme for the year, which largely focused on aligning the Nigerian banking system to provide adequate financing to meet the peculiarities of the power sector.

    Banks’ chief executives, Governor and top officials of the CBN and several experts had brainstormed extensively on the power sector at the recently concluded 4th annual retreat of the Bankers’ Committee.

    Sources in the know said the development of an industry-wide funding strategy was part of the outcomes of the discussions at the retreat.

    It was gathered that the funding strategy will provide the banking industry with a master agreement or template that would foster best practices, remove inconsistency, ease access to funding and encourage regulator-operator understanding as banks move into the still-evolving power sector.

    A bank may adapt the funding strategy to suit its internal structure and terms, but the template would provide guidelines, structures, terms and concepts, among others for the industry.

    The CBN would sign on the banking industry funding strategy for power sector, which would give the template a quasi-regulatory status.

    Banks are also expected to consider input of key non-bank stakeholders such as the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ministry of Power, Energy Commission of Nigeria (Encon) and NBET among others in the overall draft of the funding strategy to give the plan a higher level of general acceptance beyond the banking industry.

    The funding strategy will enable banks to provide well-structured finances to support investments in gas transmission pipelines, upstream gas developments, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) plants, gas processing facilities, key infrastructure, port, real estate, pipe milling and fabrication yards and gas supply and gas transportation infrastructure among other.

    Besides, banks are required to reinforce their energy desk to build capacity for power project financing while the Bankers’ Committee would continuously provide supports for advocacy and programmes that centre on the power sector transformation.

    Chairman, Economic Development and Sustainability of the Bankers’ Committee/Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said banks are aware that the growth, prosperity and national security of Nigeria depend on the success of the power sector transformation.

    According to him, the Bankers’ Committee would continue to collaborate with the government and other stakeholders to create and sustain enabling environment for private sector funding of the required investments in the power sector.

    He noted the potential impact of stable and adequate power supply on the national economy pointing out inadequate power supply has been the bane of the underdevelopment and non-competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.

    He reiterated the commitments of banks to continuously explore ways of providing adequate and suitable finances to the three key sectors of power, agriculture and transportation adding that the Bankers’ Committee’s focus on these sectors was borne out of the deep appreciation of the critical importance of the sectors as catalysts for the growth and development of the economy.

     

  • Transcorp, GE sign deal on power

    Transcorp, GE sign deal on power

    Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) and General Electric (GE), yesterday signed a framework agreement to collaborate in addressing the infrastructural needs of Nigeria, with emphasis on the power and transportation sectors.

    In a statement, GE, confirmed its commitment to facilitate the generation of 10,000MW of additional power in Nigeria over the next decade in line with its existing agreement with the Federal Government of Nigeria, signed in March 2012.

    Transcorp Ughelli Power Plc (TUP), a subsidiary of Transcorp, is a publicly quoted and diversified conglomerate with strategic investments in the hospitality, agribusiness and energy sectors. TUP won the privatization bid for 100 per cent acquisition of the Ughelli power plant.

    The framework agreement, which was signed according to the statement, following a closed door meeting with GE’s global chairman, Jeffrey Immelt, and Transcorp Chairman, Tony O. Elumelu,  will enable both firms explore a partnership for the refurbishment and expansion of the Ughelli power plant in Delta State.