The Nigerian government says the non-oil sector contributes 73% financing of the federal budget.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed who stated this while presenting the ministry’s score card of 2015-2023 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital said the non-oil sector previously contributed 30- 35% to the federal budget.
She noted that the NNPC’s October crude oil production in the country moved up to 1.3 million barrels per day from a low of 800,000bpd.
According to her, “We’ve introduced the annual finance acts which are the main fiscal instrument we use to carry out fiscal policies programmes as well as to amend fiscal laws that have either been problematic for businesses or unfair to businesses, but also to bring in more revenue to government.
“We’ve been able to enhance it among several tax laws and improve tax administration efficiency. We’ve also been able to increase taxes for instance the VAT increased from 5% to 7.5%. We’ve been able to reduce taxes for small businesses” the minister stated.
Mrs Ahmed explained that the federal government is set to establish the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, which will be an investment arm of the federal government.
“Minister of Finance Incorporated is the investment arm of the federal government. If the government is going to be in any business, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, is the investor standing on behalf of the government” she said.
“Ministry of Finance Incorporated use to sit as a department in the treasury, now we have Mr. President’s approval to turn it into a world class investment company. The Ministry of Finance Incorporated currently has 130 corporate entities and it has various investments in these entities.”
The minister also disclosed that road infrastructure tax credit scheme has attracted 33 road projects across the country approved by the government. She noted that 78.7billion naira has so far been disbursed under the tax credit scheme.
“One of our major functions is to support the states. The ministry facilitates the implementation of various federal government intervention schemes to the sub national governments. This interventions includes the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme, Healthcare Support Facility, Differentiated Cash Reserve Facility, and Several Bonds Issuance Programmes” Mrs Ahmed added.
Emmanuel Ukoh
