. . . Sanwo-Olu Thanks Lagosians, Promises More Action<\/b><\/p>\n
The internationally renowned rating Agency has upgraded the Long-Term Foreign and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Lagos, Kaduna, Kogi, and Oyo states from \u2018B-\u2019 to \u2018B\u2019.<\/p>\n
This is a big boost for investors\u2019 confidence and a testimony to the strength of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu\u2019s T.H.E.M.E.S Plus Agenda – the six-pillar economic plan of the Governor\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
According to information posted on the Agency’s website, the outlook for all four states remains stable. The rating follows the upgrade of Nigeria\u2019s sovereign rating to \u2018B\u2019 from \u2018B-\u2019 on April 11, 2025, reflecting improved macroeconomic stability and policy reforms.<\/p>\n
Fitch, in line with its rating criteria, mirrored the sovereign upgrade in the affected States, given the predominant role of the federal government in Nigeria\u2019s intergovernmental fiscal system.<\/p>\n
The remarkable rating comes two days after Mr. Sanwo-Olu told a group of Harvard students of the great potential of the State for investments.<\/p>\n
The information on Fitch\u2019s website reads, \u201cWe consider the Federal Government\u2019s role predominant in intergovernmental relations, as it controls the equalisation mechanism enacted through a system of transfers to States. Therefore, the upgrade of sovereign IDRs is mirrored in the upgrade of those of Lagos, Kaduna, Kogi, and Oyo, as their Standalone Credit Profiles (SCPs) align with or are above the ratings of Nigeria,\u201d Fitch noted.<\/p>\n
The Agency noted that by the end of Y2023, 50% of Lagos State\u2019s direct debt was denominated in foreign currencies, highlighting a notable exposure to currency fluctuations. However, despite this, Fitch projects Lagos\u2019s payback ratio to remain strong at around five times by the end of Y2028.<\/p>\n
The Agency stated unequivocally that Lagos\u2019s fiscal resilience is underpinned by its exceptional Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which accounts for 75% of its total operating revenue, far exceeding the national average of 25%.<\/p>\n
\u201cSupported by this strong revenue base, Lagos is also expected to record a budget surplus in Y2024\u201d, it added.<\/p>\n
It must be emphasised that the current rating underpins the State\u2019s strong capacity to service its financial obligations owing to its stronger operating performance driven by IGR, which makes Lagos an outlier in the national context.<\/p>\n
Of the rating, Governor Sanwo-Olu said:\u201dIt is a good verdict on ourperformance – in terms of policy decisions and projects execution. It is also a call for us to be more active; we will be in every sector. I thank Lagosians for their support.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
. . . Sanwo-Olu Thanks Lagosians, Promises More Action The internationally renowned rating Agency has upgraded the Long-Term Foreign and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13741,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13740\/revisions\/13741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}