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at 03:58 0
Despite progress in reducing extreme poverty, nearly half the world’s population lives on less than $5.50 a day, with a rising share of the poor in wealthier economies, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

In a twice-yearly report, the bank took a broader look at poverty to see where countries were lagging, even though the share of those living in extreme poverty defined as earning less than $1.90 a day has continued to come down in recent years.

Under the expanded criteria for poverty, the report found the number of poor worldwide was still “unacceptably high,” while the fruits of economic growth were “shared unevenly across regions and countries.”
Even though the global growth of recent years had been sluggish, the total count of people in poverty declined by more than 68 million people between 2013 and 2015 — “a number roughly equivalent to the population of Thailand or the United Kingdom.”

Despite the improvement, the report said current trends indicated the WorldBank’s goal of reducing extreme poverty to less than three percent of the world’s population by 2030 may be unattainable.

“Particularly distressing findings are that extreme poverty is becoming entrenched in a handful of countries and that the pace of poverty reduction will soon decelerate significantly,” the report said.

At the $5.50-a-day threshold, global poverty fell to 46 percent from 67 percent between 1990 and 2015. The bank reported last month that extreme poverty had fallen to 10 percent in 2015.

With China’s rise, East Asia and the Pacific saw a 60 point drop in the poverty rate to 35 percent, but the region is unlikely to continue to achieve that pace going forward as growth has moderated.

And poverty is becoming entrenched in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 84.5 percent of the population still live on less than $5.50 a day, the report said.

And while two decades ago, 60 percent of the global population lived in low-income countries, by 2015, that had fallen to nine percent.

The World Bank also cautioned that in many of those countries, the poor were not sharing equally in economic growth.

AFP

Source: ChannelsTv
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at 17:15 0
Nigeria’s inflation rate has again risen for the second time in a row.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistic (NBS)on Tuesday showed a slim margin of 0.05 per cent to 11.28 per cent in September, compared to 11.23 per cent recorded in August.

According to the NBS, the composite food index rose to 13.31 per cent year-on-year in September, driven by an increase in the price of poultry product, vegetables and other important food items.
Similarly, the country’s urban inflation rate increased to 11.70 per cent year-on-year, while the rural inflation rate increased to 10.92 per cent last month.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index dropped by 0.21 per cent to 0.84 per cent in September, the food sub-index fell by 0.42 per cent points to 1.00 per cent, while the urban index and rural index both fell by 0.14 to 1 per cent and 0.82 per cent each.

This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of Potatoes, yams and other tubers, vegetables, fruits, meat, milk, cheese and egg, Bread and cereals, and Fish.

On a month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.00 per cent in September 2018, down by 0.42 per cent points from 1.42 per cent recorded in August.

The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending September 2018 over the previous twelve-month average was 15.92 per cent, 0.58 per cent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in August (16.50)

Source: ChannelsTv
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at 22:12 0
The federal government has defended the country’s position with regards to  foreign borrowing which the International Monetary Fund IMF listed the vulnerability to foreign debt as one of the major threats to economic growth amongst African countries, especially in the sub-Saharan group which includes Nigeria.

The government also stressed why reserves are falling, attributing the fall in reserves to the rising interest rates in developed economies.
Meanwhile, the Debt Management Office (DMO) of the Federation has said that the federal government is making effort to protect the country from such crisis.

The Director in charge of Africa at the IMF, Mr Abebe Selassie, who listed the challenges to growth in Africa said the countries’ debts were rising unsustainably, posing threats to their ability to deploy funds for economic development.

debt
He also said that the consequences of the rising debt were the countries’ resources were being channeled to debt servicing rather investment into growth enablers.

Selassie advised that not only should the debts be moderated but also that revenue generation should improve to address a weak debt servicing ratio to GDP and tax-to-GDP ratio.

But against the backdrop of this situation the Director-General, DMO, Ms Patience Oniha, while addressing journalists on the sidelines of the on-going annual meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions, said the Federal Government is on top of the situation in the borrowing plans.

Source: Vanguàrd
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at 18:46 0

As stakeholders seek speedy passage of social work regulatory bill
By Sola Ogundipe

Worried by the worsening levels of social insecurity for millions of Nigerians and the glaring lack of attention about the relevance and welfare of social workers in the country, stakeholders in the nation’s social sector are urging the National Assembly to facilitate speedy passage of a bill to professionalise social work.

One of the concerns is that the gap between the rich and poor in Nigeria is widening and with an estimated 86.9 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty (according to the Global Poverty Clock), and Nigeria is now tagged the poverty capital of the world.

Good Health Weekly established that the nation’s human capital spending is among the worst in the world, even as indicators by global development institutions project more gloom in the future. Worsening levels of poverty, inequality, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), life expectancy, and human rights among others are being documented daily.
Two global development indices – the Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) index put together by Development Finance International (DFI) and Oxfam, and the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, HCI, attest to this fact.  According to the CRI index, Nigeria’s performance on social spending on health, education and social protection is described as “shamefully low”.  For the second consecutive year Nigeria ranked among the lowest in the CRI index among 157 nations based on a comparative assessment of the level of commitment of national government towards reducing the poverty gap.
In a comparison of the value of social spending in Nigeria with other countries, Nigeria placed bottom last on the index, scoring poorly on labour rights and meager levels of improvement in progressive tax policies.

Further, the prediction by the HCI, which ranked Nigeria 152nd out of the 157 countries, is that the future would be probably as grim or worse. The HCI measures human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18, assuming the child attains the age of 5, grows healthily, goes to school, obtains good education and has reasonable adult survival rate.
Calling for speedy passage of the bill in Enugu last week stakeholders gathered at a media dialogue on the Social Welfare Professionalisation bill, argued that its assent is essential to regulate the practice of social work in the country.

Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, Maryam Enyiazu who spoke during the forum put together by UNICEF in collaboration with the Child Rights Information Bureau, CRIB, and the Federal Ministry of Information, said too many people were vulnerable due to poverty, social exclusion, inequality and social injustice, hence a strong social welfare workforce is urgently needed.

In a presentation entitled “Strengthening the Social Welfare Workforce to Better Protect Children and Achieve the SDGs”, Enyiazu explained that the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, cannot be achieved without a strong and locally-based social service workforce.
“Social welfare for children is one of the elements of Child Protection System which plays a key role in preventing and responding to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect of children.

“Without licensing and an ethical board to regulate and ensure standards, professionalism and accountability of social workers to the public including to children will remain a challenge.”
We must work together to improve protection, health and well-being outcomes for children, youth, families and communities as outlined in the SDGs.”
Also speaking, Director of Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, FMWASD, Mrs Temitope Bamgboye, noted that in realisation of the importance of a legal backing for  effective and qualitative practice of the social work profession in Nigeria, FMWASD and the National Association of Medical Social Workers of Nigeria, NASOW, and other stakeholders initiated a bill on the establishment of the Nigerian Council for Social Work.

Bamgboye who was represented by an Assistant Director, Ben Okwesa, stated:”The Council is to serve as clearing house for the Social work profession in Nigeria, promote professional standards, improve effectiveness and efficiency and regulate the practice of social work. The bill was earlier endorsed by both houses of the NASS, transmitted to President Mohammadu Buhari for assent. “The bill was however returned for some clarifications. The identified grey areas in the bill is receiving attention and with strong support from UNICEF and NASS. We are optimistic that the bill will be returned to Mr President for his assent by the NASS before the next political dispensation.”
Among concerns of the stakeholders is that there are more non-professionals working in the field than the professionals, hence need for regulation to provide a platform that would allow government to address the social and economic difficulties faced by physically-challenged and indigent citizens.

They opined that a strong social welfare workforce strengthened by regulatory mechanism was critical to ensure licensure, certification and registration backed by political, financial, technical and moral support.

Source: Vanguard
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at 20:06 0
The naira remained stable against the dollar at the parallel market in Lagos on Friday, still exchanging at N360 to the dollar.
The naira was, however, traded against Pound Sterling and the Euro at N478 and N417, respectively.
                                                           Naira

At the Bureau De Change (BDC),  the naira was sold at N360 to the dollar, while its rates against the Pound Sterling and the Euro were N478 and N417, respectively.

At the investors’ window,  the naira closed at N364.12 against the dollar where a market turnover of 295.08 million dollars was achieved.


The naira closed at N306.45 to the dollar at the official CBN window.
Traders said that the market had remained active as political activities had begun gradually across the country.

Source: Vanguard
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at 16:33 0
Federal Government says it has disbursed about N2 billion to more than 14, 000 poor people in Kwara since 2016 under its National Cash Transfer (CCT) programme.

Hajia Aminah Yahaya, the Unit Head of the programme in Kwara, Said this on Wednesday in Ilorin at a stakeholders’ meeting on Co-Responsibility Selection.


Yahaya explained that the scheme, which started in Kwara two years ago, had beneficiaries across the 16 local government councils of the state.

According to her, the beneficiaries from Offa were able to save N15 million out of what people would describe as meagre, which had been disbursed for the businesses.


She said that Kwara was among the first eight pilot states of the cash transfer programme.

On the Co-Responsibility Programme, she explained it was a top up programme to the existing cash transfer to be assisted by the World Bank.

She said that beneficiaries of the top up cash transfer would receive N5, 000 monthly, but linked it to the participation in activities focused on human capital development.

In her presentation, Mrs Temitope Sinkaiye, the National Coordinator of the National Conditional Cash Transfer, said that programme was to address challenges and deficiencies of the conditional cash transfer.


“Conditional Cash Transfer supports the poor and vulnerable to improve consumption and develop savings skills.
“The overall objectives is aimed at reducing poverty, preventing the vulnerable households from falling further down the poverty line and building their resilience to withstand shocks.

“Top-up Cash transfer incorporates benefits linked to the participation of selected households in activities focused on human capital development and sustainable environment through adherence to specified conditionality known as co-responsibility”, she said.

She said that Kwara was expected to pick one of the co-responsibility areas which were Health, Education, Nutrition and Environment.
According to her, beneficiaries of the top-up will be required to fulfill certain co-responsibility as part of efforts to address the identified challenges.

“The co-responsibility shall be state specific, tailored to the deficiencies and capacities in each state.

“Each state shall depend on their conditions and priorities, choose their co-responsibility area,” she explained.

She added that the programme would ensure increase in children school enrolment and attendance, improve child nutrition, address environmental hazards to improve productive assets and improve utilization of health facilities for ante and post-natal care with child immunization.

She said that the beneficiaries would be trained to build their capacities for enhanced quality of life and also ensure that they made use of services and facilities available to bring about change in behaviour in the area of concern.

NAN

Source: Vanguard
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at 19:59 0
By Elizabeth Adegbesan

The Naira, yesterday, depreciated to N363.88  per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window even as the volume of dollars traded on the window dropped by eight percent.

Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for the window rose to N363.88 per dollar yesterday from N363.74 per dollar last week Thursday, indicating 14 kobo depreciation of the naira.
The volume of dollars (turnover) traded on the window yesterday rose by eight percent to $313.30 million from $289.73 million last week Thursday. However, the Naira yesterday appreciated by 50 kobo in the parallel market.

According to naijabdcs.com, the live exchange rate platform of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the parallel market exchange dropped to N359 per dollar from N359.5 per dollar last week Thursday, indicating 50 kobo appreciation of the Naira.

Source:Vanguard
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at 05:21 0

Brent crude oil prices hit their highest level since November 2014 on Monday ahead of U.S. sanctions against Iran that kick in next month.
Brent sweet crude oil futures rose to as much as 83.27 dollars a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at 73.57 dollars a barrel.

Brent was pushed up by the looming sanctions against Iran, which will start targeting its oil sector from Nov. 4.
ANZ bank said on Monday that “the market is eyeing oil prices at 100 dollars per barrel’’.

There had been expectations China would ignore U.S. sanctions.
However, China’s Sinopec is halving loadings of crude oil from Iran this month, in a sign that pressure from Washington is having an effect.
U.S. President Donald Trump called Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Saturday, discussing ways to maintain sufficient supply once Iran’s exports are hit by sanctions.

With oil prices soaring, there are concerns over their inflationary effect on demand growth, especially in Asia’s emerging markets where weakening currencies are further adding to high fuel import costs.
In Japan, business confidence among big manufacturers worsened in the last quarter to hit its lowest level in nearly a year, as firms felt the pinch from rising raw material costs.

Source:Vanguard
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at 03:23 0


CBN to pump $90m into parallel market

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to shut the official foreign exchange (forex) window for the year by Wednesday and pump $90 million into the parallel market, it was learnt yesterday.
This week’s parallel market intervention is expected to curb prevailing naira volatility in the market. The naira last week exchanged at N280 to a dollar after the CBN supplied only $23 million to Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, $67 million short of the expected $90 million.
Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) President Aminu Gwadabe, who said he had heard about the plan, said the apex bank will meet this week’s forex demand to avoid a repeat of last week’s crisis.
“I think the CBN has learnt its lessons and will supply $90 million to the market. This translates to $30,000 for each of the 3,000 BDCs. That is the only way the naira will begin to rebound in the parallel market. It is currently exchanging at N263 to one dollar in Lagos and Abuja,” he said.
The parallel or black market has been sustained by the significant differences in the naira exchange rates against international currencies. With nearly N70 gap between the official and the parallel market rates, there has been a lot of room for players to make easy profit.
Though primarily funded by travellers and Nigerians living abroad who remit funds home, many banks have profited illegally by selling forex obtained through official sources to the black market through a process known as round tripping.
Gwadabe also said the high level of forex volatility recorded in the parallel market last week, was fuelled by the inconclusiveness of the CBN’s plans to permanently stop supplying dollar to the BDCs.
He disclosed that the market volatility was also worsened by banks recalling loans given to forex speculators as the year gradually runs to an end.
He attributed the naira rebound to people who kept large volume of dollars, but rushed to take advantage of high prices. It is estimated that about $5 billion are held by people waiting to take advantage of price changes.
CBN Director, Monetary Policy Department, Moses Tule, said the naira was under pressure because of the actions of speculators.
He said currency speculators are taking positions on the naira, with a view to making excess gain from currency trading.
Tule said currency speculators were determined to put severe pressure on the monetary authorities and make the apex bank buckle and further devalue the naira.
According to him, the CBN would not fold its arms while economic predators feast on the nation’s commonwealth through arbitrage.
While maintaining that the only rate in the currency market is N196.47 to dollar, he wondered why indigenous operators in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the market chose to make huge profits at the expense of customers in genuine need of the currency.
Tule lamented that while international operators, such as Travelex, traded at not more than N7 above the rate, indigenous operators preferred to make excessive profits.
“We know what the fundamentals of the economy are and we will continue to take the right economic decisions on what to do and not when people sitting out there speculating on the currency think the naira should be devalued, so that they could make profit out of it,” he said.
“No country quotes its exchange rate with reference to the BDCs rates. The currency has a reference rate and that is the interbank exchange rate,” he said.
Tule urged Nigerians to be more patriotic in their dealings rather than engage in activities capable of undermining the integrity and value of the naira, adding that the media had a role to play in assisting the CBN to curb speculation on the naira.
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at 15:54 0
AYUBA

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has maintained that the N18, 000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers is not fixed.
The union said the wage was negotiated through what it called ‘a tripartite system.’
NLC, therefore, warned that any governor that is breaking the law of the land to stop, saying that such governor should resign from his position.
The union’s President, Ayunba Wabba, gave this warning while speaking with reporters Friday in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital shortly after his condolence visit to NLC vice president, Issa Aremu on the death of his wife.
He said: “They have been misinforming the people about the N18, 000 minimum wage. Minimum wage is not fixed, it was negotiated through a tripartite system; ten state governors represented the governors, federal government and organized private sector were also represented. It was a tripartite process of collective bargaining.
“We had looked at all the indices of ability to pay. It is a law and anybody that refuses to pay is breaking the law of Nigeria and we advise any such governor to resign.
“Why is it that the salary of councilors to the highest political office all over the country despite their inability to pay is the same? If there is economic challenge why should it be the workers that will bear the burden? Councilors in least economic viable to the most economic viable states in the country earn the same salaries. So who are they fooling?
“Can they continue to fool us? When the resources were there workers were not enjoying. Now that there is a challenge in the system why should the burden be shifted only to the workers? That is not acceptable to us. This is like a battle for us as we must continue to insist that workers should work in dignity and there must be dignity in labour.”
On the war against corruption, Comrade Wabba said: “The ongoing probe is not unexpected. Since the inception of current democracy people have assisted themselves with our commonwealth. I am sure if we are able to recover these resources from local, state to federal governments, we will have more than enough to fix our system and everybody will enjoy.
“Now they don’t steal in millions; we hear of billions these days. They will buy houses they cannot use. They will buy houses in Nigeria, Dubai and United Kingdom. How many houses will a person sleep in at a particular night? Therefore, it is vanity for politicians to continue to loot even what they cannot use. what a shame!
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at 15:42 0

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu
Motor spirit price may fall blow N87 per litre prior to the end of the first quarter of 2016, latest findings from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have revealed.
This is comes to the light when corporation announced that the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company would start producing petroleum products beginning from today (Saturday).
According to the NNPC, the current pricing template for petrol, which was prepared by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, contains significant inefficiencies that should be reviewed.
The corporation’s Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Mr. Bello Rabiu, told journalists in Abuja on Friday that going by the fall in the price of crude oil, it was important to consult relevant stakeholders in order to produce an adjusted template.
Rabiu said consultation with stakeholders was to negotiate and reduce some of the costs associated with the importation of petrol, adding that the government had the target of reducing the amount charged for logistics and distribution margin on every litre of premium motor spirit consumed in Nigeria.
The GGM was affirmative that the adjusted template would surely have a considerable reduction in the pump price of petrol when it is completed before the end of the first quarter of next year, stressing that when this is achieved, there would be no need for subsidy as the import price of PMS would have reduced considerably.
Rabiu said, “We are engaging industry stakeholders to review the PPPRA template that actually drives the cost of importation. This is because the actual cost of PMS minus the retail price of the product is subsidy. So if the cost falls to N80 per litre today, then where will the need be for subsidy? If the cost is less than the current retail price of N87 then it means there is no subsidy.
“So we are looking at the template to have it reviewed considering the realities on the ground now in the sector. What if after the review we are able to take away about N10 from this current template, which today puts the cost of petrol at N91.52 litre, then it means the cost may come down to around N82 per litre.
“That is why we said there is no need for subsidy in the 2016 budget. We say this because we know that the price of crude oil will not go so high in the next 12 months because of the high level of saturation in the market. So as soon as it is appropriate, we will announce a new price for PMS.”
Bello stated that the adjusted template would be used subsequently to modulate prices down or up on a periodic basis if required, adding that if oil prices continue to fall and inefficiencies are eliminated within the template, there will surely be negative subsidy.
The negative subsidy, he said, shall be remitted to the Petroleum Support Fund in line with the current PPPRA guidelines.
He said, “The savings under such a regime could be domiciled in the PSF as a buffer for future subsidy (if any) that may arise during high oil price regime or invested by the industry in supply and distribution efficiency improvement projects such as decongestion of Apapa area, Single Point Monitoring in Port Harcourt and Warri, complimentary rail services, inland waterways, etc.”
On the commencement of production at the Kaduna refinery, the Managing Director, Pipelines Product Marketing Company, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, said crude oil had been pumped to the facility from Warri.
She stated that some pipelines had started pumping crude oil and refined products, adding that petrol had been pumped from Atlas Cove to Mosimi depot using the pipelines connecting both facilities pipelines.
Nnamdi-Ogbue also assured Nigerians that the NNPC had enough petrol to keep the country wet for at least 12 days, and urged motorists and petrol seekers to avoid panic buying.
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