₦airaland Forum

[quote author= Punchng]Jonathan didn’t squander external reserves – FG

The Federal Government on Wednesday described as untrue
claims by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the
administration of President Goodluck Jonathan had
squandered the nation’s foreign reserves.
The Federal Ministry of Finance, in a statement in Abuja,
said there was never a time the reserves rose to $67bn as
alleged by Obasanjo.
It said that the reserves were, among others, used to settle
foreign currency obligations, including the importation of
equipment for the power sector.
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential Campaign
said Obasanjo was entitled to his views.
The former President had on Monday while responding to a
call by a delegation of market women led by the Iyalode of
Yorubaland, Chief Alaba Lawson, and the Iyaloja General of
Nigeria, Chief Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, to lend his voice to the
socio-economic crisis rocking the country, said the nation
did not deserve the situation it currently found itself.
He said the administrations after him had gradually
depleted the foreign reserves from the $67bn he left to just
a little over $30bn.
But the Finance ministry said anyone familiar with foreign
reserves management would be aware that the Federal
Government could not dip its hands into them.
Like in other countries, it explained that the management of
external reserves was one of the statutory mandates of the
Central Bank of Nigeria.
Quoting from Section 2 Sub Section (c) of the CBN Act (2007),
it stated that the bank had been mandated to “maintain
external reserves to safeguard the international value of the
legal tender.”
It said going by this provision, no President since the
democratic dispensation had contravened the Act.
The statement read in part, “It is absolutely not true that the
administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has
squandered the nation’s reserves.
“The facts are clear and indisputable. At the end of May
2007, Nigeria’s gross reserves stood at $43.13bn, comprising
the CBN’s external reserves of $31.5bn; $9.43bn in the
Excess Crude Account; and $2.18bn in the Federal
Government’s savings.
“These figures can be independently verified from the CBN’s
records. The figure of $67bn cited in some recent
commentary is therefore factually incorrect.”
It added, “It is a misconception to think that reserves are
immutable or cast in stone. The reality is that since May
2007, the reserves have fluctuated in line with developments
in the international oil market, rising from $43.13bn at that
time, peaking at $62bn in September 2008 during the
Yar’Adua/Jonathan administration when oil prices reached a
peak of $147 per barrel, and falling subsequently to a low of
$31.7bn in September 2011.
“This fall in reserves was largely a result of the vicissitudes
of the global economy and oil market, which caused the CBN
to intervene, using some of the reserves to defend the value
of the naira.”
It said whenever an agency of government or a private
individual/company needed to make a payment in foreign
currencies, it must provide the naira equivalent to the CBN
in exchange for the required foreign currencies.
On the Excess Crude Account savings, a component of the
reserves, the ministry said this was largely used to cushion
the harsh effects of the global financial crisis of 2008 and
2009 on the economy.
It explained that Nigeria was one of the few countries in the
world that did not seek assistance from international
financial institutions at that time.
It noted that the fiscal stimulus used to shore up the
economy during that period was shared by all the three tiers
of government.
It said the savings in the ECA were also used to pay for fuel
subsidies for the entire nation and that sharing of the fund
continued after the crisis had ended.
While agreeing with Obasanjo that the savings in the ECA
should have been higher, the ministry noted that the fact
that a number of governors acted against strong
professional advice to insist on the withdrawal of the funds
led to its depletion.
It stated, “It is on record that states even took the Federal
Government to court on this matter, and the case is still
pending at the Supreme Court.
“It is also worth noting that the Jonathan administration built
the first ever Sovereign Wealth Fund for the nation in which
savings are being made for future generations of Nigerians
and important infrastructure investments are being
supported.”
Similarly, the Director of Media and Publicity, the PDP
Presidential Campaign, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said at a
press conference in Abuja that Obasanjo was entitled to his
views.[/quote]www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/jonathan-didnt-squander-external-reserves-fg/

Isnt it the same OBJ that spend £16billion on electricity and got no result to show for it?
Such people should have decamp to APC where is ilks belongs

Obj has always lied fro 3000bc.

He didn't squander he burnt it. Rmbr he is Jona Tan (burn finish). Sha it's almost over
Sai Buhari
NEXT

OBJ, I can never how your regime was the worst democracy ever practised. Why are you trying to remain relevant?

So much lies and misinformations here and there. It's so bad that we do not even know the truth about figures being bandied around. I guess the best bet would be to always verify such figures from the CBN and bureau of statistics.

Do not vote buhari. Buhari is a bomb threat.

[b]Why is NOI throwing away her professional reputation built over the years from Havard to The World Bank?
Why tell half truths to defend corrupt and incompetent politicians?

Take a look for yourselves:

OBJ (2007 Ave.)
Reserves: $53 billion
National Debt: $17Billion (12% of GDP)
Oil Price: $64/barrel

Yar'adua (2009 Ave.)
Reserves: $42 billion
National Debt: $21Billion (11.6% of GDP)
Oil Price: $53/barrel

GEJ (2014 Ave.)
Reserves: $38 Billion
National Debt: $49Billion (18.5% of GDP)
Oil Price: $89/barrel

Oil Price Chart shown at the bottom of this post:

Wih the best oil price regime sustained over a long period, GEJ's govt cannot claim to have performed better that Yar'adua or OBJ. Nigeria may never get the sustained high oil price oppprtunity we got under GEJ.
But under GEJ, no improvement in Power, worsening Security, No Refineries, Oil bunkering of 400,000 barrels per day ($10 Billion per annum revenue loss).

Again, who is fooling who? GEJ has the worst stewardship of the past 3 PDP Presidents.[/b]

References-
Reserves: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/2007-2012-movement-in-foreign-reserves-account/138991/
http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/06/external-reserves-shed-11-45b-one-year/

World Debts: http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock?page=8

Oil Price: http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical_Oil_Prices_Table.asp
Chart- http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/crude-oil.aspx?timeframe=10y

GMB 2015. Anticorruption is in our DNA

So why did the FG not add to the reserves when oil price was high? Much higher than in OBJ s regime? Now when oil price went low the central bank had no option but to deplete it because like a wasteful and foolish heir this government could not add to the family wealth it inherited during the boom, but quickly embarked on spending the savings of the government before it during bad times

Don't worry.... U go hear am next month

Redoil:
Isnt it the same OBJ that spend £16billion on electricity and got no result to show for it?
Such people should have decamp to APC where is ilks belongs

He is already in apc, u can tell from his false propaganda. I asked one apc dude on facebook why he thinks apc is the best for nigeria, the dude said because buhari weighed between apc and pdp and decided to join apc, therefore apc is the best for nigeria. And then i asked myself, who is buhari? Then an inner reply came, buhari is that dude that served under the most currupt(abacha) regime of all time as ptf chairman, and never saw any reason to resign.

chronique:
So much lies and misinformations here and there. It's so bad that we do not even know the truth about figures being bandied around. I guess the best bet would be to always verify such figures from the CBN and bureau of statistics.

If you have been following events from 2005 till now you will know that obasanjo is the one lying. This is not rocket science, we all were in Nigeria during the global financial meltdown during yar aduah government and we all saw the need for the cbn to act. It's surprising that a man like obasanjo will be dishing out inaccurate facts like you will expect from a drunkard in a beer parlor .

The best way is for OBJ to submit his phone number so that I can give hike monthly statement of the excess crude account.

That will help him focus on internal reserve.