A Review Of Nigerias 2016 Budget

This study reviews and assesses the 2016 budget of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in line with IMFsbudget assessment indicators, namely: comprehensiveness, transparency, and realism. The assessment is based on clear understanding of the present administrations objectives, which are: to achieve socio-economic and infrastructural development, to diversify the Nigerian economy, and to achieve improved security of lives and properties.
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Portfolio Diversification Between Developed And Less Developed Economies

This study examines the hedging effectiveness of portfolio investment diversification between developed and developing economies; with focus on the Nigerian stock asset vis--vis the stock assets of the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK). Its main contribution is in the analysis of optimal portfolio diversification using optimal portfolio weight (OPW) and optimal hedging ratio (OHR). Empirical findings show that the OPW and OHR are low, which indicates impressive potential gains from combining Nigerian stock assets in an investment portfolio with US and UK stock assets. In addition, exchange rate volatility is found to pose stern limitation on the potential benefits of this portfolio diversification arrangement. It is therefore recommended that the monetary authority in Nigeria should pursue policies towards reducing exchange rate volatility to the barest minimum. This will possibly attract more investors from developed economies who might be willing to combine Nigerian stock in their investment portfolio to minimize portfolio risk.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 32)

The naira continued its downward trajectory this week. Specifically, naira depreciated at the interbank segment by 3.45 percent to N300/$; and by 3.56 percent to 378/$ at the parallel segment. Despite the CBNs effort to support the naira with Forwards and FOREX futures, the excess demand for dollar continues to put pressure on the naira. Looking forward, the stabilization of exchange rate depends on the ability of the CBN and government to attract capital inflows; particularly by raising interest rate, tackling inflation and supporting economy recovery.
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Extra-ECOWAS Trade And Investment Flows: Any Evidence Of Business Cycles Transmission

This study investigates the effects of merchandise trade and investment flows on the transmission of business cycles between members of ECOWAS and the major trading partnersbetween 1985 and 2014. Total trade and FDI significantly influence the transmission of business cycles with elasticities of 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively in the long run. There are little variations across the major trading partners and other measures of trade flows. Intra-industry trade flows with all partners, EU and USA influences the cross-country business cycles with elasticities of 1.0%, 0.5% and 1.8%, respectively. 
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Nigeria Economic Update(Issue 31)

Recent data on Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicates significant increase in general price level for the sixth consecutive month. Headline inflation increased by 0.9 percentage points from 15.6 per cent recorded in May to 16.5 percent in June the highest rate recorded since October 2005 (an 11-year high). The core sub-index increased from 15.1 percent to 16.2 percent while the food sub-index stood at 15.3 percent, an increase of 0.4 percent from the preceding month of May. Higher prices of domestic/imported food and other items, as well as increased energy cost were major drivers of the increase. This is probably explained by the exchange-rate pass-through, given the significant depreciation of the naira.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 30)

Power sector analysis shows an increase in power generated by 3.01 percent from 2903.5mw to 2991.8mw between July 1, 2016 and July 8, 2016, with a peak of 3260.8mw on July 5, 2016. This is however, still below the highest (5074.7mw) recorded in February, 2016. The increase reflects improved use of hydro (water) for power generation. The easing out of gas constraint occasioned by recent pipeline repairs have also contributed to the increase in power generation. Improvements in power generation would be sustained if hydro measures are complemented with fast-tracked repairs on damaged gas channels and intensified efforts at tackling pipeline sabotage.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 29)

OPEC weekly basket price decreased marginally from $45.95 on June 24, 2016 to $45.26 on July 1, 2016,while Nigerias bonny light fell by $1, from $48.90 to $47.91. The apparent decline in crude oil price was driven by lingering market demand uncertainty, following the unexpected Brexit referendum. More so, ease in supply disruptions in Nigeria and Canada may have contributed to the downward pressure on prices. Going forward, until there is greater regulatory precision on global oil output levels, prices may likely remain stuck or continue to exhibit a downward trend. Although, Nigerias fiscal constraints slightly relaxed with oil production increasing in the review week (following repairs on sabotaged pipeline channels), potential global crude oil oversupply threatens governments revenues. However, oversupply threats could be reduced if there is a consensus on oil production quotas in the upcoming OPEC meeting.
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Financing Basic Education in Nigeria What are the Feasible Options?

Over the past years, basic education in Nigeria has experienced mixed performance. On the positive side, school enrolment has increased and gender disparity in primary education has been reduced significantly in line with MDGs targets. However, educational outcomes remain weak on various indicators of quality and equity. For example, quality of education in Nigeria was ranked 124th out of 144 countries on the Global Competitiveness Index in 2015. Also, van Fleet et al. (2012) finds that 58.3 percent of primary school children in Nigeria are not meeting the expected levels of literacy and numeracy skills. Specifically, 65.7 percent of the students cannot read, while 51 percent lack basic arithmetic skill.

While several factors accounted for this dismal performance, inadequate finance is no doubt paramount. Between 2010 and 2014, the expenditure on education only accounted for 0.5 per cent of the national GDP and 8.8 percent of the federal government spending (Nwoko, 2015). This is grossly below both UNESCO’s recommendation of between 4 to 6 percent share of GDP and the Dakar Education for All EFA’s recommendation of 20 percent of national budget. Apparently, while all levels of education in Nigeria remain underfunded, basic education level remains more underfunded. While there is no specific estimate of the overall financing gap in Basic Education for Nigeria, the EFA Global Monitoring Report for 2014 shows that Nigeria needs to spend an additional US$1.6 billion annually on primary school teachers’ salaries alone to achieve Universal Primary Education by 20201. Data from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN, 2015) shows that while general government expenditure (federal, state and local) on non-basic education increased by NGN194.7 billion between 2008 and 2012, universal basic education (UBE) funding increased by a modest NGN19.1 billion.

The deficiencies in financing are reflected in the persistent supply-side constraints in Nigeria‘s Education sector. In basic education, inadequate funding is evident in the number of OOSC and shortages in school infrastructure. Nigeria presently has the highest levels of OOSC (8.7 million) in the World (See Nwoko, 2015). Similarly, estimates on classroom/facilities at the primary and junior secondary level points to a shortfall of around 60 percent and 67 percent respectively (Digest of Education Statistics, Nigeria, 2010). Given these and other apparent challenges that constrain outcomes at the school level, it becomes imperative for policymakers to design strategies towards mobilizing more resources.

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