We Are Addressing Challenges Of Domestic Revenue Mobilization—Finance Minister

The federal government is prioritizing fiscal policies and reforms aimed at not only providing short and medium-term relief but also at sustainably addressing the longstanding challenge of domestic revenue mobilization.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said this in her goodwill message at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) International Day Commemorative event themed, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.’

She stated that the government is also prioritizing work towards improving internally generated revenue, blocking tax leakages, creating new tax sources, and promoting effective tax collection.

According to her, this is being achieved in part through continued implementation of the Strategic Revenue Generation Initiative (SRGI), and through continued incremental fiscal reforms via the introduction of annual Finance Bills, as well as reducing administrative inefficiencies and lowering the overall cost of governance.

She said, “The economic and social empowerment of women and girls is critical to our collective vision of a prosperous and resilient Nigeria.

“If we are to have a stronger and more inclusive economy, it is crucial that we take a long term and strategic approach to ensuring that women are economically empowered.

“We must continue working towards the development and implementation of policies, regulatory frameworks, and programmes that are inclusive and gender-sensitive; and we must remove the socio-economic and cultural barriers that prevent women from participating fully in society and from reaping the economic benefits of their participation.

“Through the implementation of the annual Finance Acts, we are providing tax relief and other support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), many of which are women-owned.”

Ahmed explained that the recently finalized medium term National Development Plan (NDP) was developed with a gender lens, as will be the long term NDP currently being finalized.

“We at the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, are focusing on comprehensive gender mainstreaming across fiscal policy and public financial management.

“This wholistic approach represents a critical paradigm shift towards systematic and scalable reforms, and leverages the coordination benefits of having the finance, budgeting and planning functionalities under the same federal ministry for the first time in Nigeria’s history,” she added.

Ahmed noted that the country is developing an Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) to strengthen planning processes; and strategically identify and mobilize the resources required to finance medium and long-term development plans.

“We are committed to ensuring that the INFF is gender responsive, in line with overall government commitments around gender responsive national development planning and financing.

“By empowering women and girls, and promoting their full participation in society particularly in leadership and decision-making roles, we will be ensuring improved economic development outcomes for all,” she added.