Federal Government don talk say apart from their normal statutory allocations, State Governments and Local Governments dey receive extra money under this current administration, and e don lead to surplus of about N7.1 trillion.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, yarn this one for press briefing wey happen for Abuja yesterday.
According to am, the money wey dem give include the regular allocations plus refunds wey dem pay back for deductions wey dem do before. He talk say na part of how FG dey return the money wey dem save from fuel subsidy removal back to Nigerians.
As he talk am: “We dey increase the money wey dey go to states for things like education, health and infrastructure.”
“We dey repay deductions wey dem don do before from federation account, money wey rightly belong to the states and local governments.”
He still talk say the payments dey happen regularly. And since first half of 2023, the total financial balance of the states don grow from 1.8% of GDP to 3.1%. That na from N2.8 trillion to N7.1 trillion surplus.
That one mean say states don get enough money wey make dem get surplus now. And with that, dem fit invest more. From economic angle, the increase in spending by states don mostly go into capital projects.
Wale Edun, wey be Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, don talk say for the last quarter, Federal Government pay contractors over N2 trillion to clear capital budget debts wey remain from last year. He talk say as dem don settle that one, the focus now go shift to capital releases for 2025.
He still mention say for the first half of 2025, FG manage reach 37.4% of the revenue target. As he put am, “Gross revenues na 37.4% of government revenue target for first half of 2025.”
After dem rebased the GDP, Edun reveal say Nigeria debt to GDP ratio don drop from 52.1% to 38.8%, which show say the country dey try reduce how much debt dey weigh the economy.
To tackle the deficit wahala wey dey face the administration, Edun talk say government go dey prioritize how dem dey spend money. He also talk say FG go focus more on how to raise revenue from the assets wey Nigeria already get, instead of just dey borrow up and down.
On top Ways and Means matter, the minister talk say when dem check how government dey manage money and public finances, under the president leadership, dem don take bold steps to bring back fiscal discipline and balance.
He talk say dem don stop the unauthorized and over-limit funding through Ways and Means, wey before be like normal way to find money for anything wey need urgent funding.
The minister still talk say Federal Government go review how much revenue collection dey cost, especially the money wey revenue agencies dey deduct, so that government earnings fit increase.
He talk say dem go look into deductions from federation account wey come from collection charges by agencies like Customs, FIRS, NUPRC, and even the charges wey NNPC dey collect for managing the Frontier Exploration Fund and as management fee for handling NNPC activities.
