By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s newly sworn-in Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has warned that the Nigerian economy could go into fiscal crisis if the country fails to increase its revenue.
Mrs Ahmed disclosed this at the headquarters of the ministry shortly after the inauguration of the new ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday.
She said, “As you know, our nation is facing a near fiscal crisis, and it is up to us to make sure that it is arrested and ensure that we don’t slip into a crisis.
“We have to increase revenues; if not, our country will slip into fiscal crisis.”
She also noted with interest that the President had doubled the task of the ministry of finance by matching it with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.
Addressing the management staff of the ministry, she said, “The President has just doubled our assignment. We got this assignment because of the quality of work that we have produced. Ministry of Finance has some of the best cerebral civil servants that we have today.
“That we have been re-matched with the ministry of budget and national planning is also a very weighty responsibility that has been given to us.”
She added, “We have been growing in eight consecutive quarters but it is a growth that is still fragile. Our revenues have grown, but they are still 55 percent from what we have budgeted.
“We still have to pay salaries and other statutory obligations. We have to pay debts and we need to operate on a day-to-day basis, and we need to do capital projects for the sustained growth of our economy.”
Ahmed, reiterating her service to the country said that the President had brought her back so that she could continue to implement the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and other initiatives.
Modupe Gbadeyanka