FG To Stabilise Economy With N350bn
The Federal Government has resolved to
release N350bn into the economy, which has
been battered by the sharp drop in the price
of crude oil in the global market, as parts of
measures aimed at stabilising it.
This is one of the outcomes of a two-day
retreat organised by the National Economic
Council chaired by Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The governors of Zamfara and Anambra
states, Abdulaziz Yari and Willie Obiano;
Minister of Budget and National Planning,
Senator Udo Udoma; and his Finance
counterpart, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, read the
retreat’s communique to State House
correspondents at the end of the programme.
Adeosun expressed the conviction that the
money, which would be released by her
ministry in the coming months, would restore
significant economic activities in the country.
She said for contractors to benefit from the
fund, they must show proof of the number of
Nigerians that would be re-engaged.
Adeosun said, “From the Ministry of Finance,
in anticipation of the approval of the budget,
we have virtually lined up about N350bn,
which we will be pumping into the Nigerian
economy in the forthcoming months.
“We explained our rationale and the processes
that we have put in place to ensure that this
money actually achieves the desired objective,
which is to stimulate the economy.
We are already discussing with some of the
contractors who will be paid this money, and
the objectives from the overall criteria is the
number of Nigerians that will be re-engaged.
“We are specifically looking at contractors
who have laid off staff and how many
Nigerians they are going to put back to work
as a result of this money that we are planning
to release, and we believe that this will bring
significant economic activity.”
The minister said participants at the retreat
called on state governors to reduce the
number of their political appointees, including
commissioners, as much as possible.
“State governors were encouraged, where
possible, to rationalise the number of
commissioners and general political
appointees, and in addition, cost-control
measures should be identified and
implemented on an ongoing basis, and there
was a sharing of best practices from a number
of states that could be applied elsewhere,”
Adeosun added.
The minister also said the retreat called on
state governments to bring in more cost-
efficiency into their operations, noting that
they were asked to establish efficiency units to
achieve the feat.
She added, “We deliberated extensively on the
drop in revenue, particularly as to how it
affects the state governments and their ability
to pay salaries and fulfil other obligations.
“The general resolve of the house and the
consensus was that there was a need to bring
in more cost-efficiency in their operations, in
particular to look at the setting up of
efficiency units within the state governments
to rationalise expenditure, and of course, to
increase IGR.
“To that end, there is a need to generate data
because data is the basis of any revenue
collection effort. The federal and state inland
revenue services will collaborate to do joint
audits to invest in revenue, relevant
technology and efforts to improve collection.
“There is a need to develop incentives for
both federal and state revenue generating
agencies to ensure that there is an alignment
of interest.
“There is a focus at state level on property and
consumption taxes to help in improving
revenue in a fair manner. Taxpayer education
must be intensified and to expand the tax
base and ensure that there is a buy-in in the
revenue collection agencies from the
populace.”
Adeosun added that the retreat also discussed
the Universal Basic Education Commission
and the need to get legislative approval to
change the need for counterpart funding on
the part of state governments, which is
believed to be putting them further into debt.
This, she explained, would release an
estimated N58bn currently not being
accessed.
Source: PunchNg