Report: 100m Still in Extreme Poverty

MARKET INDICATOR

 By Obinna Chima

A recent report from the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that half of the world’s population cannot obtain essential health services.

According to the report, each year, large numbers of households are being pushed into poverty because they must pay for health care out of their own pockets.

Currently, 800 million people spend at least 10 percent of their household budgets on health expenses for themselves, a sick child or other family member. For almost 100 million people these expenses are high enough to push them into extreme poverty, forcing them to survive on just $1.90 or less a day.

The findings, released recently titled: “Tracking Universal Health Coverage: 2017 Global Monitoring Report,” was simultaneously published in Lancet Global Health.

“It is completely unacceptable that half the world still lacks coverage for the most essential health services,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation said.

“And it is unnecessary. A solution exists: universal health coverage (UHC) allows everyone to obtain the health services they need, when and where they need them, without facing financial hardship.”

Also, World Bank Group President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim said:  “The report makes clear that if we are serious – not just about better health outcomes, but also about ending poverty – we must urgently scale up our efforts on universal health coverage.”

“Investments in health, and more generally investments in people, are critical to build human capital and enable sustainable and inclusive economic growth. But the system is broken: we need a fundamental shift in the way we mobilise resources for health and human capital, especially at the country level.

“We are working on many fronts to help countries spend more and more effectively on people, and increase their progress towards universal health coverage.”

Nevertheless, it stated that there  were some good news, stating that the reportfound that 21^st century had seen an increase in the number of people able to obtain some key health services, such as immunisation and family planning, as well as antiretroviral treatment for HIV and insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria. In addition, fewer people are now being tipped into extreme poverty than at the turn of the century, it added.

It, however, stated that progress remained uneven.

There are wide gaps in the availability of services in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. In other regions, basic health care services such as family planning and infant immunisation were becoming more available, but it noted that lack of financial protection meant increasing financial distress for families as they pay for these services out of their own pockets.

This is even a challenge in more affluent regions such as Eastern Asia, Latin America and Europe, where a growing number of people are spending at least 10 percent of their household budgets on out-of-pocket health expenses. Inequalities in health services are seen not just between, but also within countries: national averages can mask low levels of health service coverage in disadvantaged population groups. For example, only 17 percent of mothers and children in the poorest fifth of households in low- and lower-middle income countries received at least six of seven basic maternal and child health interventions, compared to 74 percent for the wealthiest fifth of households.

The report was a key point of discussion at the global Universal Health Coverage Forum 2017, that took place in Tokyo, Japan recently.

Convened by the Government of Japan, a leading supporter of UHC domestically and globally, the Forum was cosponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UHC2030, the leading global movement advocating for UHC, UNICEF, the World Bank, and WHO.

 “Past experiences taught us that designing a robust health financing mechanism that protects each individual vulnerable person from financial hardship, as well as developing health care facilities and a workforce including doctors to provide necessary health services wherever people live, are critically important in achieving ‘health for all,’” Mr. Katsunobu Kato, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, said.

 “I firmly believe that these early-stage investments for UHC by the whole government were an important enabling factor in Japan’s rapid economic development later on.”

 “Without health care, how can children reach their full potential? And without a healthy, productive population, how can societies realize their aspirations?” the UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said.

“Universal health coverage can help level the playing field for children today, in turn helping them break intergenerational cycles of poverty and poor health tomorrow.”

 

November Inflation

For the 10th consecutive month, inflation rate continued a downward trajectory, recording a marginal decline from 15.91 per cent in October to 15.90 per cent in November.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last week stated that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation increased by 15.90 per cent (year-on-year) in November, 0.01 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in October (15.91) per cent.

The 10th consecutive disinflation (slowdown in the inflation rate) though still positive in headline year-on-year inflation since January 2017 increases were recorded in all Glossary: Classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP) divisions that yield the Headline Index.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.78 per cent in November 2017, 0.02 per cent points higher from the rate of 0.76 per cent recorded in October.

This represents the first rise in month-on- month inflation following five consecutive months on month contraction in headline inflation since May 2017.

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending in November 2017 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 16.76 per cent, showing 0.21 per cent point lower from 16.97 per cent recorded in October 2017.

The Urban inflation rate rose by 16.27 per cent (year-on-year) in November from 16.19 per cent recorded in October, while the Rural inflation rate also eased by 15.59 per cent in November from 15.67 per cent in October.

Eurobonds, Diaspora Bond Listing

 

The Debt Management Office (DMO) last week listed $300 million Diaspora Bond and $3 billion Eurobonds on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Financial Market Dealers Quotation Over-the-Counter (FMDQ OTC) Securities Exchange respectively.

The Diaspora Bond was issued in June while the $3 billion Eurobonds were issued in November at the International Capital Market (ICM).

Both offers were issued with significant features with the $300 million Diaspora Bond was unveiled with five- year tenor and 5.625 per cent coupon.

On the other hand, the Eurobonds issuances came in two tranches of $1.5 billion 10-year offer with 6.50 per cent coupon and another $1.5 billion 30-year offer priced at 7.625 per cent coupon.

According to a statement from the DMO, listing the $300 million Diaspora Bond and $3 billion Eurobonds on the NSE and FMDQ OTC would help increase the number and range of securities available in the domestic capital market.

Such exercise, it added, would deepen the market and promote financial inclusion.

Furthermore, it stated that the exercise wouldgive more visibility to the domestic debt capital market which will be beneficial for attracting capital from local and foreign investors.

“Also, for the Eurobonds, which remains a sovereign security, the information it would provide such as coupon, yield and tenor will serve as benchmarks for corporates who may issue Eurobonds in the ICM,” the debt office added.

 

Structural Reforms for Nigeria

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week stressed the need for urgent macroeconomic and structural reforms in Nigeria, in order to place the country on a sustainable growth path as well as help achieve its quest for economic diversification.

This formed part of the recommendations by an IMF staff team led by Amine Mati, that visited Nigeria between December 6-20th, 2017,  to conduct the 2018 Article IV consultation.

Following the conclusion of the visit, Mati, who is a Senior Resident Representative and Mission Chief for Nigeria at the IMF, in a statement that was posted on the multilateral institution’s website yesterday, noted that

overall growth in the country was slowly picking up, but that recovery remained challenging.

 Economic activity expanded by 1.4 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017—the second consecutive quarter of growth after five quarters of recession—driven by recovering oil production and agriculture.

 However, growth in the non-oil-non-agricultural sector (representing about 65 percent of the economy), contracted in the first three quarters of 2017 relative to the same period last year.

The IMF pointed out that difficulties in accessing financing and high inflation continued to weigh on companies’ performance and consumer demand. Headline inflation declined to 15.9 percent by end-November, from 18.5 per cent at end-2016, but remains sticky despite tight liquidity conditions.

“High fiscal deficits—driven by weak revenue mobilisation—generated large financing needs, which, when combined with tight monetary policy necessary to reduce inflationary pressures, increased pressure on bond yields and crowded out private sector credit.

“These factors contributed to raising the ratio of interest payments to federal government revenue to unsustainable levels.”