LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun, has revealed that the revenues of government-owned enterprises, ministries, departments, and agencies surged to N835.70 billion in February.
This figure indicates a growth of N681.45bn or 441.78 per cent from N154.25bn MDAs remitted in the same period of 2022.
The minister made this statement during a presentation titled “Reconstructing the Economy for Growth, Investment, and Climate Resilience Development,” delivered at the Lagos Business School Breakfast Club.
Edun stated that since January 2, 2024, the government has implemented an automated process to sweep 50% of internally generated revenue from MDAs and GOEs twice daily, resulting in increased remittances.
“There is an increasing revenue contribution of MDAs and GOEs, growing from 154.25 in February 2023 to 835.70bn in February 2024 through an automated two-times daily sweep of 50 per cent of MDAs and GOEs IGR since January 2, 2024,” he stated.
In December 2023, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Finance, instructed all MDAs to remit 100% of their internally generated revenue to the Sub-Recurrent Account, a sub-component of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
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In a circular, the government explained that the directive aimed to enhance revenue generation, fiscal discipline, accountability, and transparency in managing government financial resources, while also preventing waste and inefficiencies.
“All Ministries, Departments, and Agencies that are fully funded through the annual Federal Government budget (receiving personnel, overhead, and capital allocation) and on the schedule of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 and any addition by the Federal Ministry of Finance should remit 100 per cent of their internally generated revenue to the Sub-Recurrent Account, which is a sub-component of the Consolidated Revenue Fund,” the circular read.
The finance minister stressed that boosting revenues was a vital component of a comprehensive execution strategy aimed at achieving a 78% year-on-year increase in budgeted revenue for 2024.
He highlighted the significance of implementing an enhanced government revenue assurance model, aiming to decrease the budget deficit from 6.1% of GDP in 2023 to 3.9%.
“We have set out a robust execution plan for a 78 per cent y-o-y increase in budgeted revenue in 2024, but implementing enhanced the government’s revenue assurance model is critical with a target budget deficit of 3.9 per cent of GDP from 6.1 per cent in 2023.”
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Edun emphasized the government’s strategy of raising the pricing of government securities, which had effectively drawn dollar inflows, albeit at a higher cost to the government.
He also mentioned that the government had overhauled the process for initiating 2024 capital expenditure payments by MDAs and GOEs, opting for direct payments to contractors.
Additionally, prudent measures have been implemented to minimize redundancy and reduce leakages through digitization.
He said, “We have taken prudent expenditure measures by minimising unnecessary redundancy, reducing leakages through digitisation and eliminating inefficiencies.
There is also a revamped process for the commencement of 2024 capital expenditure payments for MDAs and GOEs, which is through direct payments to contractors while promoting a government-wide cost curtailment culture across all MDAs & GOEs.”