Coordinating Minister of the Economic system and Minister of Finance Wale Edun has mentioned the usage of expertise is the way in which to go if the nation is to spice up its income technology.
Talking Monday in Abuja on the theme of the fifth Nationwide Treasury Workshop “Nigeria’s Income Challenges and the Method Ahead: Exploring Non-Oil Alternate options”, Edun additionally mentioned the usage of expertise will assist tackle income leakages and waste in public finance.
Represented by the Everlasting Secretary within the ministry, Lydia Shehu Jafiya, mentioned this would assist the nation get worth for its cash.
He mentioned: “Once I appeared on the provision of the 2025 funds, I noticed that over N14 trillion was for debt servicing. There may be nothing fallacious with debt however we should generate income and the onus is on our non-oil income. For us to generate income, the one reply is the usage of expertise. No matter we do, if we don’t spend money on expertise, leakages will certainly come. If we’re to get worth for our cash, then there’s a must make use of expertise.”
Edun listed challenges confronting the non-oil sector of the financial system to incorporate “poor infrastructure and excessive price of doing enterprise; bureaucratic bottlenecks and regulatory inefficiencies; insecurity and its impression on funding confidence; and low tax compliance and widespread income leakages.”
Edun, nonetheless, mentioned the federal government was already taking daring steps to deal with these points via reforms in public {financial} administration, digitalisation of income assortment, and strengthening of tax administration.
The minister famous that a number of non-oil sectors had demonstrated robust potentials for income technology, job creation, and {economic} transformation.
“It’s time to discover these aggressively. Let me spotlight a number of essential areas reminiscent of: Agriculture and Agro-Processing, Stable Minerals and Mining, Manufacturing and Industrialisation, Tourism and Hospitality, The Digital Economic system and ICT, Tax Reforms and Compliance,” he mentioned.
The minister mentioned it was time for the nation to rethink its income technology methods, particularly within the “gentle of the risky nature of oil revenues which has lengthy been the spine of our financial system however lately going through a downturn.”
He famous that “the latest international shifts in vitality insurance policies, declining oil demand and fluctuating crude costs have collectively made it abundantly clear that we can not afford to be overly depending on oil revenues.
“We should, due to this fact, embrace a diversified {economic} method that faucets into the immense potential of non-oil sectors reminiscent of agriculture, stable minerals, manufacturing, tourism, digital financial system and inventive industries.
“Nigeria is blessed with considerable pure and human assets that stay largely untapped. The query earlier than us at present is: how can we harness these assets successfully to drive sustainable {economic} progress and growth? This workshop seeks to supply actionable solutions to this query by fostering strong discussions amongst key stakeholders within the {financial} and {economic} panorama.”
He mentioned stakeholder collaboration was wanted to beat these challenges which have weighed down the expansion and growth of the Nigerian financial system.
“To make sure the success of those initiatives, collaboration amongst all stakeholders is important. The function of the personal sector in complementing authorities efforts can’t be overemphasized. Accountability and transparency in public {financial} administration stay paramount in constructing belief and attracting funding,” he added.
…Accountant Common’s remarks
In her opening remarks, the Accountant-Common of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, mentioned “the workshop presents a chance for seasoned technocrats to rub minds on salient points confronting the financial system with a view to proffering workable options in an effort to transfer the nation ahead.
“The theme for this 12 months’s version is “Nigeria’s Income Challenges and the Method Ahead: Exploring Non-Oil Alternate options”. This theme is taken into account very apt contemplating the state of the financial system owing to a multiplicity of things starting from the alternate charge volatility, low income efficiency, rising prices, amongst others. These have difficult fiscal operations in the previous few years.
“We’re all gathered right here to brainstorm on these papers to provide you with a sturdy and implementable communiqué able to altering the present income challenges confronted by the nation.
“To this finish, I cost us all to contribute meaningfully in order to proffer far-reaching suggestions for coverage makers, each on the federal and sub-national ranges.”