The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that it was time the country stopped borrowing to fund its budget. Speaking
today at the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum (PQBF) in Abuja, the
Minister said instead of incurring additional debts to finance the
budget, government will now make efforts to raise its revenue through
taxes and others.
“We need to increase our budget size, but we
can’t depend on borrowing anymore, so we have to improve revenues and
block leakages,” Mrs Adeosun said at the business forum.
The
Minister’s position on Tuesday suggests that the Federal Government will
no longer press forward with the $2 million loan deals from the World
Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB), which have stalled for almost a
year.
The loans, especially from the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), had been dragging after both bodies
insisted on having blueprints of the Nigerian government on how it
intends to utilise the funds and repay.
They also insisted on the FG putting in place critical fiscal policies, which have not been met.
Speaking
further at the forum today, the Finance Minister said part of the
efforts to raise government’s revenue was the introduction of Voluntary
Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) by the Acting President, Mr
Yemi Osinbajo, last month, precisely on June 29.
“This is why
we’ve introduced VAIDSNG. A window of opportunity for Nigerians,
individuals and companies, to regularize tax status,” the Minister said.
“We
are reviewing tax waivers/exemptions and also reforming our revenue
generating agencies. The Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has signed
an Executive Order to support this,” Mrs Adeosun added.
Last
month, the Acting President signed the 2017 budget pegged at N7.44
trillion. This came about a month after it was passed by the parliament.
It
was disclosed then that more than 50 percent of the N2.21 trillion
deficits in the 2017 budget would be funded through external borrowing.
Part of the 2017 budget, according to the government, is also to be funded with funds recovered from looters.
Business Post
recalls that Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udo Udoma,
during the breakdown of the 2017 appropriation bill in Abuja in June
2017, said about N560 billion recovered from looters would be used to
finance part of the 2017 budget.
“On recoveries, we are being
extremely conservative; what is in the budget is what we know about
already. So, if more comes, we will use it.
“Know that recoveries
of looted funds are not the most dependable way to finance the budget
because of the legal processes that have to be concluded before it can
be spent.
“So, the money quoted in the budget is the one we have
already recovered and in our pocket to spend as we wish,” Mr Udoma had
explained.
Nigeria tripped into recession last year and has been
making efforts to get out of it. There have also been promises from the
government that the country would quit recession before the end of this
year.