Abuja, Nigeria: The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, states that there will be no further budget extensions in the Nigerian fiscal space in the future.
Edun said this during the plenary session on “The Reform Imperative: Building a Prosperous and Inclusive Nigeria By 2030” at the ongoing 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #31) in Abuja, on Tuesday.
“No more extensions of the budget into the following year, which has created so much confusion in the system.
“We have talked to the National Assembly and we have agreed to restore normalcy in that space,” he said.
The minister also stated that the government would utilise sukuk, green bonds, and diaspora bonds more extensively, rather than eurobonds.
He stated that there was greater transparency, noting that it took until August 1 for the Federal Government to gain visibility into its accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He said that the Federal Government had implemented a federal billing system that enables it to track exact payments for goods and services.
“We are determined to bring all Federal Government funds into visibility.
“There is a lot of Federal Government money lying outside of CBN,” he said.
Edun said that the fight against inflation started with the fiscal authorities and that the Federal Government would prioritise its spending, focusing on productivity-enhancing sectors.
He stated that two reforms, foreign exchange unification and fuel subsidy removal, had freed five per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for distribution to the three tiers of government through the Federation Account.
The minister said that the federation funds allocation to states has increased by about 111 per cent.
