The Nigerian federal government has used part of the Nigerian Treasury Bills, NTBs, and Bonds issued in 2024 amounting to N4.83 trillion to pay Ways and Means advances from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed this in a recent paper presented at the Lagos Business School Breakfast Club titled, “Reconstructing the Economy for Growth, Investment and Climate Resilience Development.”
Last year, the National Assembly approved the securitisation of the outstanding debit balance of N7.3 trillion of the Ways and Means Advance in the Consolidated Revenue Fund, CRF of the Federal Government.
Olayemi Cardoso, CBN Governor, said that the apex bank will no longer grant Ways and Means advances to the federal government unless the outstanding balance is settled.
Edun, however, explained that this was part of FG’s efforts to boost the supply of ‘sticky’ foreign capital to critical sectors of the economy.
He also said that the Federal Government would focus on three core areas to grow the economy by at least 3.5 per cent in 2024.
According to him, these areas include Increasing oil production to 2 million barrels per day, boosting agriculture sector growth to 3 per cent, and boosting trade activities to support a positive current account.
“We have set out a robust execution plan for a 78 per cent y-o-y increase in budgeted revenue in 2024, but implementing enhanced government’s revenue assurance model is critical. We target a budget deficit of 3.9 per cent of GDP from 6.1 per cent in 2023,” he stated.
Nigeria govt pays N4.83trn CBN ways & means loan with NTBs
