…FG says it will repay loan with treasury bills, bonds issuance
By Sodiq Adelakun
Less than a month to hand over, the Senate has yesterday approved the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure the N22.7 trillion loans the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) extended to the federal government under its Ways and Means provision.
Since the government started experiencing a significant shortfall in revenue, it has relied heavily on the central bank to finance its expenditure programmes via Ways and Means which balance as of December 19, 2022, stood at N22.7 trillion.
However, the Ways and Means provision allows the government to borrow from the apex bank if it needs short-term or emergency finance to fund delayed government expected cash receipts of fiscal deficits.
The Federal Government had said it will repay the loan with securities such as treasury bills and bonds issuance.
President Buhari had last year asked the Senate to approve his proposal to securitize the loan but the Red Chamber rejected the request, citing lack of details on government’ expenditures.
Buhari, while appealing to the Senate to reconsider its stand, said failure to grant the securitization approval will however cost the government about N1.8 trillion in additional interest in 2023.
The Senate Leader, Ibrahim Gobir, who led the Senate in the debate for the approval of the Ways and Means on Wednesday, explained that part of the money were given as loans to states.
Gobir added that the Special Committee set up by the Senate to scrutinise the fiscal document, put up the report after ‘critical analysis and review of submissions made by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Senate Leader said the panel discovered that the Ways and Means balance was initially “N19,326,745,239,660.20 as of 30th June 2022” but later grew to “N22,719,704,774,306.90 as of 19th December 2022” as a result of financial obligations to ongoing capital projects and additional expenditures which includes domestic debt service gaps and interest rate.
Recall that the Senate on Wednesday, 28th December 2022, approved the sum of N819,536,937,813 from the one trillion naira additional request made by Mr. President, Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces leaving an outstanding balance of N180, 463,062,187 being the accrued interest on the sum.
He said the House of Representatives had earlier approved the additional one trillion naira Ways and Means Advances requested by Mr. President Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces to enable the smooth implementation of the supplementary budget;
“Part of the Ways and Means monies were given to State Governments as loans to augment budgetary short fall in their various States;
“Most of the requests for funds for an increase in Ways and Means were made to Mr. President on the need to finance the budget due to revenue shortfall.
“Such requests were either made by the Hon. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning or the Central Bank Governor.
“The Federal Government as a result of revenue shortfalls occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and low oil prices, relied heavily on the Ways and Means to finance its budget deficit to keep the country working for the people.
“The monies received by the Federal Government were actually used for funding of critical projects across the country.
“Due to the serious shortfall in Government Revenue, the Federal Government in order for the economy not to collapse, was compelled to borrow repeatedly from the CBN, exceeding the 5 percent threshold of the prior year’s revenue as stipulated by the CBN Act, 2007.
“The Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning has concluded plans to convert the CBN loans to tradeable securities such as treasury bills and bond issuance,” the lawmaker said.
Gobir said the Senate Special Committee after exhaustive deliberations, recommended among others, the restructuring of N22,719,703,774,306.90 for Ways and Means Advances be approved because the advances were made to ensure that the government does not shutdown.
The panel further sought the approval of the Senate for the sum of N180,463,062,187 being the balance of the supplementary budget and the interest accrued on the Ways and Mean Advances.
Other recommendations were, “That if there is a need to exceed the 5 per cent threshold of the prior year’s revenue, recourse must be made to the National Assembly for approval.
“That the Federal Government should begin the process of recovering the portion of the Ways and Means given as the loans to State Governments as further deferment of the repayment of the loans by the States will not be healthy for the economy.
“That the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance, Budger and National Planning should expedite action on the repayment of the loans through treasury bilis and bond issuances.
“That the National Assembly will not condone future increase in the Ways and Means without seeking the approval of the National Assembly.”
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the plenary, after the approval of the fiscal document, noted that the Ways and Means Advances was a global practice.
He faulted the process adopted by the executive arm of government which failed to carry the National Assembly along while accumulating the huge amount of loans.