Nigeria Has A Revenue, Not Debt Problem- Finance Minister

Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said that contrary to widespread insinuations, Nigeria’s problem is that of revenue and not debt.

Ahmed stated this in an address at the Nigeria International Economic Partnership Forum in New York, while responding to earlier remarks by the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, who said Nigeria needs help in tackling its debt burden.

Ahmed disagreed, arguing that Nigeria has set a debt-to-GDP ceiling at 40 per cent, which the country is yet to exceed and added that Nigeria’s revenue generation is low right now.

“We do have a revenue problem and this revenue problem, we’re tackling using the instrument of the strategic revenue initiative, the revenue challenges we have we have been addressing in a systematic manner,” she added.

Ahmed further stated that the country has a very significant impact in revenue performance based on the issues in the oil sector, which is being addressed by the security agencies.

“There are some ineffective tax incentives that are currently in process of being review, so some that have reached maturity will not be renewed, there might be some new ones that are being introduced, but we’re trying to make sure that we’re getting value for the investments that we have provided.”

She said the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGI) is designed around three thematic areas: achieve sustainability, identify new and enhance existing revenue stream and achieve collision within the revenue ecosystem — alignment between our people and our truths.

The minister said the government has taken on some innovative approaches to financing infrastructure, giving an example of road infrastructure for tax rebate.