CBN DONATES INTERVENTION FUNDS OF 338.6B
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) donated N338.6billion coronavirus (COVID-19) connected intervention funds to assigned sectors across.
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), member Sanusi Aliyu Rafindadi, who made this known in a note disclosed by the apex bank, said reports of the implementation of the CBN’s COVID-19 intervention had shown significant progress in disbursements.
Over N152.9 billion (or 15.2 per cent) of the N1 trillion targeted support for the manufacturing sector has been disbursed.
Of the N100 billion Healthcare funds, N26.278 billion (or 26.3 per cent) has been disbursed to fund 20 projects.
Additional 16 applications for N67.413 billion were under processing. Of the N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility for Households and Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises(MSMEs), N49.195 billion has been disbursed to 91,736 beneficiaries, while N1.5 billion was disbursed to 169 beneficiaries under the Creative Industry Financing Initiative.
The Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMIs, for instance, fell below the break- even benchmark of 50 points in April for the first time in 36 months. In May, the Manufacturing PMI stood at 42.4 index points. The Non-Manufacturing PMI, which was worse hit by the lockdown, improved slightly from 25.3 points in March 2020 to 35.7 in June as some restrictions were eased.
Although the international price of crude oil increased steadily since April, domestic oil production declined by 13.14 per cent from 1.75 mbpd in May to 1.52 mbpd at the end of June in compliance with the OPEC+ production cut agreements and the shutdown of offshore Bonga oil field.
Available data showed that while the actual oil price was above the revised fiscal benchmark of $28pb, the actual production during the quarter remained below the revised fiscal benchmarks of 1.8 mbpd. Consequently, fiscal (oil) receipts for the quarter are likely to fall below the budgeted, with possible adverse implications 48 on the level of public sector borrowing requirements amidst a rising public debt. Also, accretion to external reserves and excess crude accounts would be adversely affected.