FMBN Defends 2024 Budget Estimates at NASS
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has defended its 2024 budget estimates before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Housing and Urban Development.
The defence done on December 14 is part of preparation for effective operations in 2024.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by Timan Elayo, the Group Head, Corporate Communications.
The committee, comprising the Senate Committee on Land, Housing and Urban Development and House Committee on Housing and Habitat, had invited the leadership of the FMBN to justify its budget proposal for the 2024 fiscal year and give account of the 2023 budget performance.
Managing Director of FMBN, Mr. Hamman Madu, reviewed the performance of the bank in respect to the 2023 budget, and projected the bank’s performance in the coming year. Hamman said the bank worked tirelessly within the period and with available resources to ensure the fulfilment of its mandate of affordable housing to low-and-medium income Nigerians, despite financial and structural limitations.
Details of the budget for 2024 indicate a projection of N162 billion for National Housing Fund (NHF) collections which comprise of formal, informal and diaspora collections, as against N135 billion in 2023. This comes after the recent launch of the Diaspora Mortgage Scheme by the Honourable Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa.
Hamman further affirmed his commitment to taking the bank to its highest level of excellence by adhering to the bank’s Five-Year Strategy Blueprint. He expressed optimism at achieving the budget targets which he said are focused on six key pillars of upholding transparency and sound corporate governance culture, ensuring cost containment and income growth, continuing aggressive debt recovery and tighter risk-based portfolio management as well as recapitalization, completion of ongoing projects, deepening of NHF collection, and new product development.
The Managing Director identified high inflationary rates and attendant increasing cost of building materials, currency depreciation as well as high level of insecurity for construction activities, slow economic growth and stagnant household income, as challenges bedeviling the delivery of affordable housing to Nigerians.
In spite of these challenges, the FMBN boss reiterated the bank’s commitment to the realization of its targets for the 2024 budget in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He called on the committee to intervene in the recapitalization efforts of the bank.
“The bank’s undercapitalization is the main issue hanging on its head. The National Assembly is invited to note that the Bank is grossly undercapitalized and not funded from the national budget. The role it plays to provide affordable housing finance and regulatory conditions require its immediate recapitalization.
“We want to make an appeal for the Committee to recommend for injection of funds in terms of fresh capital to the bank, because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who are our regulator has told us that our current capital base is not sufficient for a development financing institution. The CBN has asked us to present a recapitalization plan without which the bank may be unable to operate in the financial sector,” he said.
Responding to the budget defense and prayer of the Managing Director for the approval of the budget and consideration for recapitalization, Chairman, House Committee on Housing and Habitat, Aminu Balele, commended the Managing Director for the detailed and robust presentation. He assured the FMBN of the joint support of the Committees in addressing the issues raised and maintaining excellence at the FMBN.