PUNCH
The Senate has approved the upward review of the Ways and Means loan accessible to the Federal Government from five to 15 per cent.
According to the lawmakers, the very essence of the Bill was to enable the Federal Government to meet its immediate and future obligations in the approval of the ways and means by the National Assembly and advances to the Federal Government by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to the Collins dictionary, Ways and Means are the revenues and methods of raising the revenues needed for the functioning of a state or other political unit.
The term “ways and means” was first used in the Parliament of England and refers to the provision of revenue to meet national expenditure requirements and implement the objectives of economic policy.
Also, an expert, the chief executive of Cowry Asset Management, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, defined Ways and Means as the money that the CBN lends to the Federal Government in the meantime to augment spending based on the time the revenue is generated within the same year.
He said, “Ways and Means is a way in which the Federal Government raises funds, by borrowing from the CBN. Such is done either through bonds or Treasury bills.”
According to the CBN Act, the Ways and Means must not exceed five per cent of the previous year’s revenue.
