The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said on Tuesday that the cost estimate for Nigeria’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) financing requirements is about US$100 billion, and that the government was determined to fund the programme against all odds. This was disclosed in Abuja, at the 52nd national conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
According to her, the National Development Plan (2021-2025) has been designed by the Federal Government while strategies have been put in place to show possible threats and opportunities, and develop a clear path to reaching the nation’s goals and priorities.
She said: “The Federal Government is firmly committed to the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the SDGs. This commitment culminated in the recent launch of the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF). The goal of INFF is to enhance revenue collection at the national and sub-national levels. To digitalise, optimise and make the tax system much more effective, better coordinate the budget processes, and make public spending much more effective.”
Mrs. Zainab added that other government reforms and initiatives that are ongoing currently to put Nigeria on a steady path of sustained growth include: strengthening and continued implementation of the strategic revenue growth Initiatives to shore up government revenues, reduce financing pressures, and expand the fiscal space.
Rationalising expenditure by focusing on priority spending on growth-enhancing sectors of the economy; enhancing growth in non-oil exports through fiscal and trade incentives, improving and sustaining political and macroeconomic stability, as well as addressing security and infrastructural challenges, to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and improving the monitoring and tracking revenue from government-owned enterprises (GOEs), while developing a model for continuous improvement in activities are some other ongoing reforms.
“The aim is to make these enterprises financially and commercially viable so that they will have no recourse to the government for funding”, the Minister added and further charged the accountants to help in combating wastage and mismanagement, as they are crucial components of financial sustainability.
