The government speaking through its ministers who presented their scorecards on Tuesday as part of the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Update press briefing to highlight the achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his first year in office, said it has not only improved revenue generation, but has also restored investor confidence.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun in his own presentation, said with the government has succeeded in ramping up its revenue generation to the point that it can now pay its obligations.
According to him, “We have now increased our revenue substantially and we can now take care of our obligations without resorting to Ways and Means. We have paid off Islamic Development Bank, we have paid our own equity in the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
“One of the great things that this givernment has inteoduced to block revenue leakages is that we now pay our suppliers directly, no more through a third party.”
The minister who also boasted that the situation in the country now is such that no company will leave the country again, noted that the situation the force those that left out of the country have been taken care of.
He said the government is investing heavily in agriculture because it has the potential of pulling down inflation which will help the monetary authority to stabilise the exchange rate.
He said that one of the signs that the economy is moving in the right direction is the recent report by the NBS that the GDP in the first quarter 2024 grew by 2.98 percent, which he said was higher than population growth of 2.4 percent in the same quarter.
“The President’s reforms, strategies and programmes have turned the country in the right direction of growth,” he said, adding that the potential that agriculture has to help move the economy forward and reduce inflation has not yet been tapped.
“By the time the dry season harvest is over and the wet season production come in, it is going to significantly bring down food inflation which is 50 percent of headline inflation in the country,” he said.
“As inflation comes down it gives the monetary authority a chance to stabilise the exchange rate.”
He said the issue of whether the old naira notes will continue to exist side by side with the new notes is in the hands of the CBN to decide.
Also making his presentations, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Chief Adegboyega Oyetola, said agencies under his ministry increased their revenue generation by 95 percent in the first quarter of 2024.
He noted that in the first quarter of 2024, the agencies under the ministry generated a combined revenue of N242.8 billion as against the N126.35 billion generated in the first quarter of 2023.
Chief Oyetola said on the Ease of Doing Business, NPA and NIMASA have accomplished all Reform activities recommended under the 90-Day Regulatory Reform Accelerator prescribed by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) to boost transparency in the operations of the Agencies and are progressing steadily with regards to the Ease of Doing Business.
He said the ministry is committed to establishing a national shipping line for the country to facilitate foreign trade for Nigerians.
He said it is going to be a public, private partnership (PPP) with the government maintaining a minimal interest.
On his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, said the federal government has not appointed Ambassadors because it lacked the funds to support them notingbthat there is no point sending them out when the government did not have the funds to support them.