The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, says there will be no more budget extensions in the Nigerian fiscal space going forward.
Mr 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 budget into the next year, which has created so much confusion in the system,” said Mr Edun. “We have talked to the National Assembly, and we have agreed to restore normalcy in that space.”
The minister also said the government would utilise sukuk, green bonds, and diaspora bonds instead of eurobonds.
He said 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).
The minister said the federal government had implemented a federal billing system, which 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.
Mr Edun said the fight against inflation began with the fiscal authorities and that the federal government would prioritise its spending, focusing on productivity-enhancing sectors.
He said two reforms, foreign exchange unification and fuel subsidy removal, had freed five per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) into the federation account distribution to the three tiers of government.
The minister said the federation fund allocation to states has increased by about 111 per cent.
(NAN)