Five things to know to start your Friday

Republicans defied Trump

A bill supported by Donald Trump was rejected in the House of Representatives on Thursday when many Republican members voted against him. This leaves Congress without a clear solution to prevent a government shutdown that could affect holiday travel.

The vote highlighted divisions within Trump’s Republican Party that might cause problems again next year when they control both Congress and the White House.

Trump had urged lawmakers to finish their work before he becomes president on January 20, but conservative Republicans wouldn’t support a bill that would increase spending and pave the way for adding trillions more to the government’s $36 trillion debt.

The bill was quickly put together by some Republican leaders trying to meet Trump’s demands, but failed with a vote of 174-235.

FG is slashing inerstate travel fares by 50% for the holidays

The Federal Government is cutting interstate travel costs by half during the Christmas and New Year period to help make holiday travel more affordable for Nigerians.

The Transportation Ministry’s spokesperson, Olujimi Oyetomi, announced this in a statement on Thursday.

“To commence the 2024 Yuletide road transportation, passengers will board buses to their destinations for only 50% of fares, as declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the statement said.

This price reduction, announced by President Bola Tinubu, is part of a larger plan to help Nigerians with transportation costs during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Read Also: Yuletide: MMA2 prioritises safety, seamless travel experience

FG will spend nearly N25trillion on salaries and debt servicing

The Federal Government’s spending plan for 2025 shows it will pay N8.52tn (including government enterprises) for federal workers’ salaries and pensions, according to the 2025 budget proposal.

This is N3.17tn or 59.16% higher than the N5.35tn budgeted for 2024.

The budget shows that salary payments alone will be N7.54tn, which is N2.75tn more than the N4.79tn paid to federal workers in 2024.

Together, the N8.52tn for salaries and pensions plus N16.33tn for debt payments total N24.85tn, taking up 53.98% of the entire N46.02tn budget for 2025.

The document also reveals that the government will spend more money paying debts than it will spend on worker salaries and pensions.

US increased sanctions to further restrict Iranian oil

The United States has placed new sanctions on more ships and companies it says are helping to trade Iranian oil, which provides money supporting groups like Hamas and the Houthis that Iran backs.

The U.S. government announced Thursday that it added nine ships and eight companies to its sanctions list. Among these is the MS Enola, a ship that has been moving Iranian oil for several years.

U.S. sanctions have limited Iran’s oil exports to China, its largest customer. Donald Trump’s chosen national security adviser has promised “maximum pressure” on Iran. The Biden administration is also thinking about new sanctions on Russia’s oil trade.

The U.S. has added more than 70 ships to its sanctions list since October 11. Many of these are large oil tankers that carry Iranian oil to China.

China’s one-year yield sank to its lowst since 2009

China’s interest rates on short-term government bonds have fallen to 1% for the first time since 2008’s financial crisis, as investors expect the government to lower interest rates.

One-year Chinese government bond rates dropped for nine days in a row, reaching 1%. This follows the recent drop of 10-year bond rates below 2% for the first time ever this month.

These falling rates suggest investors think China will make big interest rate cuts next year, after leaders changed to a “moderately loose” money policy to help their struggling economy. Investors are buying more short-term bonds as the central bank’s efforts to slow down bond buying are making longer-term bonds riskier.