...Senate warns against more borrowing
...N5.4trn lost to tax evasion annually – FIRS Experts,
...SMEs react

Additional tough economic measures will be taken to generate more revenues to fund the 2020 budget, the Federal Government said yesterday.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, who gave the indication while making a presentation on the proposed 2020 budget at the National Assembly public hearing on the budget in Abuja, added that the government is moving aggressively to drive non-oil revenues to fund the budget.

“What we have is a revenue problem; our revenue performance by half year is 58 per cent. So we have designed this Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative early this year which has three thematic areas,” she stated. She said some tough reforms and actions were inevitable as the Federal Government drives revenue through non-oil sources.

She therefore called for understanding from Nigerians. The minister reiterated that Nigeria has “a revenue crisis and not debt crises,” stressing that Nigeria has not over borrowed as the total borrowing rate of the country was under 50 per cent of the GDP. “There is also the need for us to ensure that we have the right legal enablers and other enablers that will enhance revenue performance. “Nigeria as a country must mobilise significant domestic resources to be able to make necessary investment in human capital as well as in physical infrastructure. Giving the low revenue to GDP ratio currently at 8 per cent, we must optimise revenue generation,” she said.

Daily Trust reports that the government has been struggling to raise funds to finance its budgets following sustained low oil prices. During the 2020 proposed budget presentation to the National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari had said “the sum of N8.155 trillion is estimated as the total Federal Government revenue in 2020.” He also said the amount was 7 per cent higher than the 2019 comparative estimate of N7.594 trillion. For several years now, the government has not met its revenue targets for its budgets.

For the 2019 budget for instance, as at June 2019, the government only raised N2.04trn, representing 58 per cent of revenue performance, the budget minister had said. Though the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), the two major non-oil generating agencies for the government have stepped up their revenue drive performances, it was still a far cry from meeting revenue projections. Experts wondered why the government kept raising revenue projections even though it has not met targets year on year.

Mrs Ahmed told journalists in Washington DC last week that the government would continue to push its agencies to meet projections, adding that going forward, there would be consequences for underperformance. “The fact that our revenue is underperforming is not an excuse to bring down our revenue that is required to fund the national budget… What we have to do collectively as a people is to make sure the agencies that have responsibility to generate revenue actually generate these revenues,” she said.

“The agencies proposed those numbers. We interrogate them and ask them to justify them. To be prudent, we even discount what they propose before it goes into the national budget,” she also said, adding that with the 7.5 proposed VAT increase, the revenue of government will improve.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/revenue-crisis-tough-measures-inevitable-fg.html

Tough measures for what? Abi dey swear for una ni? Must Nigerians suffer the effects of your cluelessness?

"....The government has been struggling to raise funds to finance its budgets following sustained low oil prices."

Thought the govt have lied so much of revenue generation by TSA, NPA, FIRS, Customs, Oil earnings etc?

People are finding it so difficult to survive yet all what this moribund clueless govt know is tax, borrowing & all manners of oppressive policies. Thunder fire all the zombies & all who have a hand in this calamity.Welcome to next level hardship.

Additional tough economic measures will be taken to generate more revenues to fund the 2020 budget, the Federal Government said yesterday.

Like my colleague once said.... las las, people go carry gun...

Tough measure wey una put I don survive them all and I go still survive more till una comot for office.

My time dey come.

Our new sheriff in town came, see and took to his hills, amu kelie odika oga rawa ikpu, osondu

They keep borrowing and squandering.

They keep taxing the populace with nothing to show for it.

We don't have roads, no electricity, no security and they still want to kill us with tax.

Can't these Politicians make some sacrifices themselves and free the masses Biko?

This Government is inhumane

elchariotlp:
They keep borrowing and squandering.They keep taxing the populace with nothing to show for it.

We don't have roads, no electricity, no security and they still want to kill us with tax.Can't these Politicians make some sacrifices themselves & free the masses Biko?This Government is inhumane

So useless! I wonder how the supporters of this APC government think.

Imagine all these silly statements! Was these their reason for being in government? The APC government have borrowed 3Trillion over the last one year & made a budget of over 40Trillion over the last 4years with nothing to show for it.

Now they want to impose hardship on the common man while maintaining their looting spree & keeping their over-bloated cost of governance.Nigeria is cursed.

Obviously they aren't thinking outside the box

Racoon:
Tough measures for what? Abi dey swear for una ni? Must Nigerians suffer the effects of your cluelessness?

Thought the govt have lied so much of revenue generation by TSA, NPA, FIRS, Customs, Oil earnings etc?

People are finding it so difficult to survive yet all what this moribund clueless govt know is tax, borrowing & all manners of oppressive policies. Thunder fire all the zombies & all who have a hand in this calamity.Welcome to next level hardship.

Smh. Did this one go to school at all Well I guess that's what govt is trying to correct: regurgitated ignorance! Zero ability to grasp economic or financial policies. And they will claim they are graduates and be applying for nnpc job! Lubbish

Racoon:
Imagine all these silly statements! Was these their reason for being in government? The APC government have borrowed 3Trillion over the last one year & made a budget of over 40Trillion over the last 4years with nothing to show for it.

Now they want to impose hardship on the common man while maintaining their looting spree & keeping their over-bloated cost of governance.Nigeria is cursed.

Not Nigeria, just u!

Na now Nigerians will understand d meaning of d Next Level dis ppl meant... Dis govt is jus like d devil, dey give u with one hand(New minimum wage) while collecting it in multiple fold with d other hand(New tax regime).. Increment of pump price of petrol is next

[s]

allthingsgood:

Smh. Did this one go to school at all Well I guess that's what govt is trying to correct: regurgitated ignorance! Zero ability to grasp economic or financial policies. And they will claim they are graduates and be applying for nnpc job! Lubbish

[/s]We all are not zombies.

elchariotlp:
They keep borrowing and squandering.

They keep taxing the populace with nothing to show for it.

We don't have roads, no electricity, no security and they still want to kill us with tax.

Can't these Politicians make some sacrifices themselves and free the masses Biko?

This Government is inhumane

Liar! No light no security but here u are typing rubbish in the secured comfort of ur home. Smh

Though measures dat only d masses will pay and suffer abi? Why not do d needful and cut down on d high cost of governance? Every year office equipment and accessories are budgeted for in MDAs.. Every year u ppl earn millions in salaries and allowances apart from d public funds dat end in their private pockets.. So many reoccurring items which all go to private pockets. Start from cutting out those. Start by slashing benefits allowances and salaries of public office holders... Nonsense

Racoon:
[s][/s]

Cancelling my comments won't improve ur IQ

Nbotee:
Though measures dat only d masses will pay and suffer abi? Why not do d needful and cut down on d high cost of governance? Every year office equipment and accessories are budgeted for in MDAs.. Every year u ppl earn millions in salaries and allowances apart from d public funds dat end in their private pockets.. So many reoccurring items which all go to private pockets. Start from cutting out those. Start by slashing benefits allowances and salaries of public office holders... Nonsense

Don't say public office holders, say politicians. Cos normal civil servants are poorly paid

allthingsgood:


Liar! No light no security but here u are typing rubbish in the secured comfort of ur home. Smh

It's difficult to respond to people on a faceless forum but may I remind you that there is no house in Nigeria without a Generator set including the almighty Aso-villa and even PHCN offices Nationwide.

There is hardly a neighborhood in Lagos (nay Nigeria ) that does not have a private security outfit. Even the federal Government relies of Civilian JTF and Hunters to fight insurgency.