Dear Subscriber,
It’s okay to celebrate your wins!
Do you remember the celebration song by Kool & The Gang? The best part of the lyrics—celebrate good times c’mon—is what really matters today.
Often times, we get so lost and carried away with the cares of this world that we forget to celebrate our wins, no matter how small. An achievement is an achievement. A win is a win. What’s left is for you to accept it with joy in your heart and celebrate them because there’s more to come.
It is important that we do not forget to to reward ourselves once in a while. Only you know the journey and how hard you fought to achieve whatever goals you set, so only you know how best to reward your efforts. In the lifestyle section of this digest, we provide you with convincing and comforting reasons why you should celebrate your achievements.
Nigeria is a substantially risky economy—Moody’s
Nigeria’s lack of fiscal responsibility has caught up with it again. Moody’s, a credit rating recently downgraded Nigeria’s credit ratings to Caa1 from B3 owing to expectations of a further strain on our fiscal revenue and a worsening debt profile. In 2022, Nigeria earned ₦6.5 trillion of which 98% went to debt servicing. In addition, the country’s debt burden has risen by 153% to ₦44 trillion in the last seven years.
The downgrade confirms Nigeria’s junk status making its credit more expensive. With the country still battling fiscal challenges amid sub-optimal oil output and fuel subsidy payments, it would be more difficult to rebound from this sticky situation.
This lower credit rating would discourage foreign investors, leading to the continued decline in investment inflows. As of Q3’18, foreign portfolio investments are down 37.74% to $1.72bn, while foreign direct investments are valued at $530.63mn contributing less than 1% to GDP. Unfortunately, Nigeria is at cross roads as it needs as much investment it can get. More capital inflows could plug the country’s widening infrastructure deficit that the World Bank estimates will take 300 years to plug.
In this edition of the Unity Bank Digest, we provide you with insightful economic stories and entertaining lifestyle pieces to begin the new month.
Please enjoy your read!
