By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that for Nigeria to solve its main problem of economic downturn it is battling with at the moment, efforts must be made to increase the revenue of the country.
She emphasised that there she disagrees with the school of thought that less borrowing in the time of recession was the best thing for government to do.
According to her, “If we want to grow, we must address the issue of paying tax. Our tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of six percent is rated one of the lowest in the world.
The Minister added that, “We are also blocking leakages with the view to improving our revenue base in the country.”
Speaking last Friday at the 3rd edition of the NSE Bloomberg CEO Roundtable in Lagos, Mrs Adeosun noted that government was resolved to restore its role of in the provision of public goods and services that will drive economic growth.
“In the last 12 months, we have expended an unprecedented N1.2 trillion. Our road spend alone was above N70 billion compared to just N19 billion in 2015. In 2016, transport and aviation received N143 billion.”
The Minister further said, “Our infrastructure deficit is so deep and so critical that we fully recognise that government cannot do it alone.”
Mrs Adeosun stated that the Federal Government intends to revive public private partnership in Nigeria as there was a huge opportunity to partner with private capital in the provision of infrastructure and social projects across many sectors.
