FG Targets 15% Revenue To GDP Ratio By 2023-Finance Minister

The Federal Government said with the introduction of the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative, it would grow Nigeria’s revenue to Gross Domestic Product ratio from the current eight per cent to 15 per cent by 2023.

The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made the disclosure on Thursday during the virtual Nigerian Economic Outlook for 2021, organised by Deloitte.

The Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives was launched in 2018 by the Federal Government and contained a robust set of initiatives that was cascaded down as program portfolios to revenue generating entities.

She said, “After a year of exploring both conventional and unconventional policy strategies, in both advanced and emerging economies, it has become clear that, though we are all advanced in this highly uncertain environment, each country still has to take policy measures that are most relevant to their social-political and economic context, and reasonable as to cost and benefit.”

The Minister said the plan would help in mobilising and maximising sustainable revenues sources that look beyond oil by 2025.

Ahmed said that the plan coupled with the Finance Act 2020 would form the background to set a path to economic recovery.

She said with improved and sustainable revenue generation, appropriate fiscal and monetary policies, the economy would recover and witness huge growth.

“The SRGI and Finance Act, 2020 will aid the economic recovery process of the Nigerian economy through initiatives and strategies that will grow fiscal revenues, improve the Ease of Doing Business, counteract the impact of the oil price fluctuations and integral fiscal monetary and trade policies,” said Ahmed.

The minister said the SRGI was a blueprint and mechanism for enhancing fiscal revenues, adding that the thematic areas is centered around achieving sustainability in revenue generation; identify and enforce new and existing revenue streams; and to achieve cohesion through people and tools.