The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, said she has received approval to securitize the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) N20 trillion-worth Ways and Means portfolio.
Ahmed announced this at the Ministerial Presentation of the 2023 budget at the Ministry of Finance Headquarters in Abuja.
She further disclosed that the government’s contingent liabilities as a percentage of GDP in 2021 were 2.64%, down from 2.75% in 2020. It is expected to be in this area by the end of 2022.
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What the finance minister is saying
Dr. Ahmed said that the “total public debt as a percentage of GDP stood at 23.06% as of June 30, 2022, within the 55% threshold recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank (WB) as well as Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40% set in the MTDS 2020-2023, even after including the outstanding balance on CBN Ways & Means Advances”
She added that the Target Ratio under the MTDS 2020-2023 is 70:30 and that the Debt Management Office was expecting to achieve the target by end of 2023.
While responding to the question on the Ways and Means, the minister said, “The total Ways and Means today is 20 trillion and we have the approval to securitize. The securitization will be over in a 40-year period with an interest rate of 9%. But over the years, we have been paying the interest component at the current rate that is charged on the Ways and Means.”
She added that the exposure to refinancing risk remained stable as a result of the strategy of issuance of long-dated securities in the domestic and international markets in addition to accessing long-term funds from multilateral and bilateral lenders.
What you should know.
Nairametrics earlier reported that the CBN’s Ways and Means balance climbed to N22.068 trillion in August 2022 from N16.1 trillion in August 2021. This represents a 36% increase year on year.
The CBN has now extended to the federal government a total of N4.76 trillion (year to date). The increase in CBN ways and means represents a 35% year-to-date gain.
However, the apex bank complained that excessive borrowing by the federal government from the CBN’s Ways and Means advances window could frustrate CBN’s monetary policy.
