Business

UK Interest Rate Rise In 2022 Becoming More Likely

UK interest rate rise in 2022 becoming more likely, says Bank chief

The inflationary pressures building in the UK has made a rise in interest rates next year more likely, the central bank chief has warned.

Against a backdrop of rising fuel prices and the prospect of higher transport costs pushing up the price of food in the run-up to Christmas, the Bank of England’s governor said there were signs that inflation could be sustained and the central bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) may need to increase borrowing costs in 2022.

With inflation at 3.2% and heading above 4%, he said inflationary pressures appeared to be worsening rather than improving, although a slowdown in the economy’s growth rate over recent months meant the MPC would be reluctant to do anything that choked off the recovery.

Speaking to the Society of Professional Economists in London, Andrew Bailey said: “Recent evidence appears to have strengthened that case [for an increase in interest rates] but there remain substantial uncertainties and we are monitoring the situation closely.”

Last week the MPC voted to keep interest rates at 0.25% and its £875bn stimulus programme in place after concerns that a rebound in economic growth since the early part of the year was beginning to peter out.

The committee said it was concerned that there were more people on the government’s furlough scheme than the Bank predicted in its August health check on the economy, fuelling concerns that unemployment would increase when the scheme ends this week.

Playing down the prospects for a return to previously high levels of growth, Bailey said the economy remained on a journey to a post-Covid situation and policymakers would need to put in the “hard yards” to navigate a route to safety.

“I, and other MPC members, have used the analogy of a bridge to describe the role of economic policy in the age of Covid, the bridge to the other side of Covid. We are still on that bridge,” he said.

“The rate of recovery has slowed over recent months, and that slowing is continuing. Relative to the fourth quarter of 2019, on the latest data to July, the level of GDP was 3.5% lower.

“That’s around one percentage point below the level consistent with the August monetary policy report. It is inevitable in a bounceback that the growth rate will slow as the recovery nears its end point. It is not, though, inevitable – or desirable – that the previous level is not regained.”

Samuel Tombs, the chief economist at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics, said Bailey’s downbeat comments about the economy could be set against his worries about inflation to leave the path of interest rates open.

“Our sense from the speech is that Mr Bailey leans slightly dovishly and is not going to rush to hike [interest rates], unless the case is overwhelmingly strong,” he said.

“But given that the amount of slack in the labour market will be much more apparent in December, when the impact of the wind down of the furlough scheme at the end of this month will be visible in the official data, Mr Bailey is hedging his bets and not providing any hostages to fortune.”

Business

TCN announces outages in Enugu, Abuja

The Transmission Company of Nigeria has announced that there would be electricity outages in parts of Enugu State and Abuja, respectively, due to maintenance of its Kubwa and New Haven Enugu 132/33 kilovolt substations.

The spokesperson of TCN disclosed this in a separate statement released on the agency’s X account on Tuesday.

According to TCN, the scheduled Enugu-New Haven maintenance would take effect from October 22, 2025, to Thursday, October 31, 2025, between 9:00am and 5:00pm daily.

Consequently, TCN stated that there would be disruption of bulk electricity supply to one 33-kilovolt feeder per day on a rotational basis during the period.

“TCN wishes to clarify that this is not a total system shutdown for Enugu State. To minimise disruption, the work has been carefully planned to affect only one 33 kV feeder per day on a rotational basis. Given that Enugu State is supplied by twenty-four (24) 33 kV feeders, this arrangement ensures that most parts of the state will continue to receive a power supply while the maintenance is ongoing.

“The exercise requires the temporary isolation of specific 33 kV feeders to ensure the safety of TCN technical crews and the protection of equipment under maintenance.

“Consequently, customers in areas served by these feeders will experience power interruption only on the day their specific feeder is isolated,” the statement reads.

In Abuja, the disruption, which is expected to take effect on 21st October 2025, would affect areas in Kubwa, including Army Resettlement, Papal Ground, Aso Garden, Nydren Supermarket, Back of AT4, Back of Mobil, Zenith Bank, FO1, Kubwa Extension, Chikakore Community, Dantata Estate, IITA Farms, Royal Champion Church, the Kubwa area and environs.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) notifies the public of scheduled preventive maintenance at the Kubwa 132/33 kV Transmission Substation on October 21, 2025, from 11 am to 3 pm.

“The exercise will involve the replacement of a 33 kV circuit breaker with a new one and will require an interruption of bulk power supply to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) from Kubwa Substation,” the statement reads.

Business

FG, States, LGs Share N2.103trn September 2025 Revenue – FAAC

A total sum of N2.103 trillion, being September 2025 Federation Account Revenue, has been shared to the Federal Government, States and the Local Government Councils.

The revenue was shared at the October 2025 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja.

The N2.103 trillion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N1.239 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N812.593 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N51.684 billion.

A communiqué issued by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) indicated that total gross revenue of N3.054 trillion was available in the month of September 2025. Total deduction for cost of collection was N116.149 billion while total transfers, interventions, refunds and savings was N835.005 billion.

According to the communiqué, gross statutory revenue of N2.128 trillion was received for the month of September 2025. This was lower than the sum of N2.838 trillion received in the month of August 2025 by N710.134 billion.

Gross revenue of N872.630 billion was available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) in September 2025. This was higher than the N722.619 billion available in the month of August 2025 by N150.011 billion.

The communiqué stated that from the N2.103 trillion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total sum of N711.314 billion and the State Governments received a total sum of N727.170 billion.

The Local government Council received N529.954 billion, while the sum of N134.956 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting State as derivation revenue.

On the N1.239 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N581.672 billion and the State Governments received N295.032 billion.

The Local Government Councils received N227.457 billion and the sum of N134.956 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

From the N812.593 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N121.889 billion, the State Governments received N406.297 billion and the Local Government Councils received N284.408 billion.

A total sum of N7.753 billion was received by the Federal Government from the N51.684 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), the State Governments received N25.842 billion and the Local Government Councils received N18.089 billion.

In September 2025, Import Duty, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) increased significantly while Companies Income Tax (CIT) and CET Levies decreased considerably. Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) increased Marginally while Oil and Gas Royalty and Excise Duty recorded marginal decreases.

Business

FG finalises N4trn bond plan to clear GenCos’ debts

The Federal Government has announced that it has finalised a comprehensive plan to deploy N4 trillion in government-backed bonds to settle verified arrears owed to power generation companies (GenCos) and gas suppliers.

The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

She explained that the bonds form part of an initiative approved by President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council, designed to tackle long-standing structural challenges in Nigeria’s power sector and foster an environment conducive to substantial private sector investment.

She stated that the agreement was reached during a high-level meeting attended by the duo of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun and the Minister of Power, Chief Bayo Adelabu.

The meeting focused on reviewing and finalising settlement modalities, with a consensus to engage in bilateral negotiations aimed at designing comprehensive settlement agreements that are sustainable within Nigeria’s fiscal realities and the financial constraints faced by GenCos.

Verheijen emphasised that the intervention represents the largest-scale debt resolution effort in more than a decade.

The move seeks to eliminate legacy debts that have stifled growth in the sector, strengthen the financial standing of utility companies, and enhance the reliability of power supply nationwide.

According to the statement, “This is a major step by the federal government towards restoring financial stability and investor confidence within Nigeria’s electricity market.”

The statement added that the initiative aligns with President Tinubu’s strategic vision of modernising the electricity infrastructure by improving grid systems, expanding distribution networks, and scaling embedded generation, with the aim of creating a favourable environment for sustainable growth and private investment.

This development follows the April 2025 warning by GenCos threatening to shut down the country’s power sector over N4 trillion in unpaid legacy debts.