Increase tax revenue to fund education Actionaid to FG
News & Trends •
by racheal ishaya6 nwaobia said the number of companies that were taxed would determine the amount of money put into the education system1 obi said this in an interview with the news agency of nigeria nan on monday in lagos on the sidelines of a workshop on breaking barriers for girls education1 she tasked the governments to break the barriers to quality public education by improving tax revenue particularly corporate tax as a way of providing sustainable funding to the sector1 she listed some of the barriers to public primary education as poor school infrastructure violence and discrimination failure to recruit and retain good quality teachers among others1 if states commit to finding resources to increase the size of their education budget for globally agreed targets all children including the poorest and most marginalised will enjoy free quality public education obi said1 obi revealed that actionaid had received 6.2 million dollars grant from the norwegian agency for development cooperation norad to influence policy making and initiatives to increase the size and share of education budget1 in addition she said the project aimed at ensuring the public education system became more responsive to the needs of girls and marginalised children1 nan reports that about 10.5 million children are out of school in nigeria with the country investing only about seven per cent of its budget on education short of the unesco 20 per cent benchmark1 the country director actionaid nigeria mrs ene obi has urged federal and state governments to take decisive steps to increase the funds allocated to the education sector in order to improve the quality of education1 they note that money accruing from a proper tax regime can be useful in addressing infrastructure deficit in nigerias education sector1 statistics obtained from the federal inland revenue service firs show that out of the 450000 limited liability companies operating in nigeria no fewer than 125000 representing 27.7 per cent pay any form of taxes1 dr charles nwaobia an education stakeholder observed that the education tax act indicated that government intended to have a sustainable education system funded through tax1 he said the tax imposed by the act was meant to fund the federal states and local government educational institutions including primary and secondary schools1 two per cent shall be charged on the assessable profit of a company registered in nigeria1 the federal board of inland revenue shall assess and collect from a company the tax imposed by this act1 accordingly the higher education shall receive 50 per cent primary education 30 per cent and secondary education shall receive 20 per cent of the total tax collected in any one year nwaobia said citing a portion of the act1 experts observe that there is a link between the crumbling education service and evasion of tax by local and multinational companies in nigeria1

$2.9bn Paris Club refund: FG bars states owing salaries
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by racheal ishaya6 this approved sum was released to the states between dec. 1 2016 and sept. 29 20171 the director of information federal ministry of finance mr hassan dodo on tuesday said the federal government would commence phased payments of the refund to the states once the condition and several others were met1 the dmo led the reconciliation process under the supervision of the federal ministry of finance. the final approval of 2.69 billion dollars is subject to some conditions1 salary and staff related arrears must be paid as a priority. also commitment to the commencement of the repayment of budget support loans granted in 2016 must be made by all states1 furthermore they must clear amounts due to the presidential fertiliser initiative and make commitment to clear matching grants from ubec1 the federal government said states must clear backlog of salaries and other related staff arrears before they would be able to access the remaining 2.69 billion dollar paris club refund1 it will be recalled that the issue of paris club loan over-deduction had been a long standing dispute between the federal government and the state governments dating back to 19951 in response to the dispute president muhammadu buhari directed that the claims of over-deduction should be formally and individually reconciled by the debt management office dmo1 this reconciliation commenced in november 20161 as an interim measure to alleviate the financial challenges of the states during the 2016 recession the president had approved that 50 per cent of the amounts claimed by states be paid to enable them clear salary and pension arrears1 this is in cases where some states have available funds which could be used to improve primary education and learning outcomes dodo said in a statement1

Fidelity bank records over N100bn savings deposits in 2017
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by racheal ishaya6 the banks gross earnings increased by 18.3 per cent from n152 billion to n179.9 billion and profit after tax grew by 93.7 per cent from n9.7 billion to n18.9 billion1 balarabe who said this at the final draw of fidelity banks get alert in millions promo in abuja on wednesday said the feat was made possible due to the implementation of financial inclusion strategy adopted by the bank1 he said that through the promo the banks customer base increased in 2017 leading to the triple digit growth in savings deposits1 savings is a very important culture that is critical for the economy and the individual1 on a personal level you should save for a rainy day and also to bring into fruition that business you have always dreamt about1 as a bank promoting savings culture has also been very profitable for us1 we have grown our savings deposit tremendously. in the past one year we have grown by over n100 billion and that is a major feat for us he said1 balarabe said fidelity bank had given out n110 million to 185 customers through its get alert in a million promo which commenced in oct. 2017 and ended in may1 mr mohammed balarabe the deputy managing director of fidelity bank plc said the bank recorded an increase of over n100 billion in the banks savings deposit account in 20171 ms nwasike chidera and ms augustine nkiru won n3 million each from the bi-monthly draws for the south east and south-south respectively1 similarly ms imoedemhe osi and jennifer nnanna from south-south and south east won n2 million each1 nnalue the star prize winner said he would invest the n10 million in his hide and skin business in aba1 meanwhile mr malachi oahimire of the national lottery commission said the commission monitored the selection process and the winners were indeed randomly selected in accordance to lay down rules1 fidelity bank has given out over n355 million to its loyal customers since 2007 while many others have won houses scholarships electronics and other consolation prices1 the bank in its 2017 audited report filed with the nigerian stock exchange nse reported a 94 per cent growth in profit for the year ended dec. 31 20171 this followed the banks return to the international capital market and successful issuance of a 400 million dollars eurobond that was over-subscribed by over 200 per cent1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that an aba-based entrepreneur mr batholomew nnalue won the n10 million star prize of the promo1

Photo News: Adeosun, Elumelu, others at IMF/World Bank meeting
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by racheal ishaya6 the minister of finance mrs kemi adeosun and the central bank governor on sunday left nigeria for washington dc to join other economic experts from around the world in discussing issues affecting global economy3 the discussions is taking place under the auspices of the world bank group and the international monetary fund imf3 the spring meetings of the imf and the world bank will bring together central bankers ministers of finance and development parliamentarians private sector executives representatives from civil society organisations and academics3 they will discuss issues of global concern including the world economic outlook poverty eradication economic development and aid effectiveness3 also featured are seminars regional briefings press conferences and many other events focused on the global economy international development and the worlds financial system3 below are some pictures from the meeting3

Photo News: Adeosun, Elumelu, others at IMF/World Bank meeting
News & Trends •
by racheal ishaya6 the minister of finance mrs kemi adeosun and the central bank governor on sunday left nigeria for washington dc to join other economic experts from around the world in discussing issues affecting global economy3 the discussions is taking place under the auspices of the world bank group and the international monetary fund imf3 the spring meetings of the imf and the world bank will bring together central bankers ministers of finance and development parliamentarians private sector executives representatives from civil society organisations and academics3 they will discuss issues of global concern including the world economic outlook poverty eradication economic development and aid effectiveness3 also featured are seminars regional briefings press conferences and many other events focused on the global economy international development and the worlds financial system3 below are some pictures from the meeting3

Nigerian banks lose 2m customers in 2 years Statistics
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by racheal ishaya6 the cbn money deposit banks micro finance banks and other stakeholders are curre implementing different policies designed to enhance financial inclusion in the country1 according to statistics from thenigeria inter-bank settlement system nibss the number of active bank accounts also reduced by 1.5 million dropping from 65 million to 63.5 million1 the statistics obtained by the news agency of nigeria nan from the nibss website on sunday showed that the total number of bank customers dropped from 61 million in 2016 to 59 million in 20171 according to nibss the banking sector however made great strides in linking customers account using the bank verification number bvn1 the report showed that linked bvn accounts grew from 26 million in 2016 to 41.3 million in 20171 according to a banking industry source the reduction in banking customers is not unconnected to the federal governments declaration to fight against corruption1 when buhari assumed office many people abandoned their accounts especially civil servants because of fear of investigation1 while some out rightly closed down their accounts others opted for gradual withdrawal so as not to raise alarm the source said1 the source who works at one of the top five banks in the country blamed the bvn for the low patronage of banking products especially in the rural areas where awareness was already very low1 despite central bank of nigerias cbn effort to promote financial inclusionnigerian banks lost over 2 million customers between 2016 and 20171 first of all the interest rate is next to nothing so there is little reason to keep your money at the bank when you can turn it over doing other businesses she said1 another customer who preferred to remain anonymous said he opened several accounts during the ponzi scheme boom in the country but was forced to abandon them after the schemes crashed in late 2016 and early 20171 however a source at the cbn told nan that the reduction in the number of banking customers was caused mainly by the introduction of bvn1 the reduction may not necessarily be a bad thing. for example many people opened accounts using different variations of their names1 a person bearing musa salisu mohammed may have other accounts as salisu mohammed or musa salisu1 so with the introduction of bvn such customers were forced to regularise their names however some opted to close down their accounts which resulted in the reduction of active bank accounts and customers the source said1 the cbn source was however optimistic that the financial inclusion strategy of the bank would succeed in bringing in more people into the formal banking system1 the financial inclusion strategy aims to ensure that major bulk of the money in the economy remains within the banking sector1 a major challenge in the financial inclusion process is how to ensure that the poor rural dwellers are carried along considering the lack of financial sophistication among this segment1 a bank customer mr olaitan alagbe told nan that she closed some of her accounts due to unnecessary and illegal charges by banks1