Metro

Nigeria may need to raise supplementary budget to be able pay minimum wage— IMF

Published

6 months ago

May 14, 2024

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the Nigerian government may need to raise a supplementary budget to be able to pay the proposed minimum wage increase for workers.

The IMF which gave the advise in its latest staff country report for Nigeria on Monday, said a supplementary budget was necessary because the negotiated amount for the wage increase may surpass the budgeted amount in the original 2024 budget.

“The authorities noted that a supplementary budget may be needed to accommodate the outcome of the ongoing wage structure negotiations which may exceed what they had included in the 2024 budget,” the report said.

“Staff projects a higher fiscal deficit than anticipated in the 2024 budget, but broadly unchanged from 2023. The drivers are lower oil/gas revenue projections, reflecting IMF oil price forecasts but incorporating recent production gains; higher implicit fuel and electricity subsidies; continued suspension of excise measures included in the MTEF; and higher interest costs,” the agency noted.

The report also noted that the government might need to raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent fresh borrowings from the apex bank’s Ways and Means.

“Over the medium-term, staff projects consolidation in the non-oil primary deficit. With rising interest costs, government debt stabilises towards the end of the projection period.

“Staff factors in an under-execution of capital expenditure in line with past outcomes and estimates an FGN deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP relative to the 2024 budget target of 3.4 per cent of GDP.

“For the consolidated government, this implies a projected deficit of 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2024—compared to 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2023 measured from the financing side—which is appropriate given the large social needs and factoring in a realistic pace of revenue mobilisation.

“Based on staff’s projections, the authorities must raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent renewed recourse to CBN financing.

“With higher interest rates, banks and nonbanks should have sufficient appetite—as indicated by market sources—conditional on careful management of system liquidity, including a likely reduction in the currently high cash reserve requirement.”

Organised labour in the country has continued to clamour for an increase in the minimum wage for government workers.

Labour leaders have demanded for N615,000 from N30,000 as salaries for lowest ranked workers, while a tripartite committee set up by the government have mulled N70,000 as the new minimum wage.

Despite the government allocating N6.48tn for personnel cost in the 2024 budget, the international lender argues that the amount may be insufficient, which could force the government to come up with a supplementary budget to fund the deficit, the report added.

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Metro

Morocco’s Mpox test gets African CDC endorsement

Published

19 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A major step forward in Africa’s response to the continuing epidemic was taken Thursday when the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) revealed that it had endorsed Morocco’s locally created mpox test.

A “major milestone” for African public health systems, the new real-time PCR test can identify mpox pathogen DNA in tissue, saliva, and blood samples, improving the continent’s capacity to address new health risks.

The Africa CDC announced the clearance on X (previously Twitter), highlighting the validity and effectiveness of Morocco’s mpox test.

The support is in line with the African Union’s overarching goal of enhancing public health self-sufficiency in order to anticipate and effectively address disease risks.

This development follows three months ago when the Africa CDC declared the mpox epidemic to be a public health emergency.

Previously known as monkeypox, mpox is a disease that infects animals and people by intimate personal contact. Symptoms include fever, muscular pains, and characteristic skin lesions.

Alongside the CDC’s work, Abbott Molecular Inc.’s Alinity m MPXV assay, the first mpox diagnostic test, was authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last month.

This diagnostic tool provides an additional means of monitoring and managing the virus by identifying mpox from swab samples.

Approximately 1,100 people have died and over 50,000 instances of mpox have been recorded throughout Africa this year, with Central Africa experiencing the highest number of cases and fatalities.

Metro

Mpox immunisation scarcity slows Kinshasa’s epidemic fight

Published

20 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A lack of mpox vaccine doses has prevented the Democratic Republic of the Congo from starting a campaign in the capital, Kinshasa, the response commander has confirmed. However, the number of cases nationwide is still rising, particularly among youngsters.

In mid-August, a new strain of pox started to spread from the Congo to neighbouring countries, prompting the WHO to declare a global health emergency. However, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, donors have been hesitant to turn their pledges into cash and vaccines.

The head of operations for Congo’s mpox control program, Cris Kacita, stated on Tuesday that the country needed more than 162,000 doses of vaccine to start a vaccination campaign in the capital, but that 53,921 doses were still available for use in prisons, where inmates are at greater risk because of unsanitary conditions.

The capital, which is home to about 20 million people, has so far been less impacted than other parts of the nation. In six other provinces, vaccination campaigns are now underway.

Along with additional shipments from Germany and the African Union, France has committed to providing 100,000 doses.

He added the arrival of vaccines was also delayed by the administrative process, which includes sending an official request, manufacturing, creating documentation and gaining import authorisations.

“As long as we don’t have the necessary quantity, it’s going to be complicated to launch (vaccination) in the 14 health zones,” Kacita told Reuters, referring to areas of Kinshasa.

According to a health ministry study, from October 28 to November 2, 1,017 new suspected cases were registered nationwide in Congo, including 45 confirmed cases and 16 fatalities.

Since children are almost four times more likely than adults to die from the new strain of mpox, the charity Save the Children warned on Wednesday that targeted vaccines were necessary to halt the virus from spreading quickly among children.

“Children are especially vulnerable to mpox – they explore by touch and taste, don’t always understand health guidance, and have weaker immune systems than adults,” Katia Vieira de Moraes LaCasse from Save the Children said.

According to Africa CDC data, there have been over 42,000 suspected cases of Mpox in the continent, with 1,100 deaths reported so far this year.

The Mpox virus can spread from person to person via intimate contact and also from place to person through objects and surfaces that a person infected with Mpox has touched.