No More Budget Extensions, Says Wale Edun.

Wale Edun.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has stated that Nigeria will no longer allow budget extensions in its fiscal operations going forward.

Mr Edun made this declaration during a plenary session titled “The Reform Imperative: Building a Prosperous and Inclusive Nigeria By 2030”, held at the ongoing 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #31) in Abuja on Tuesday.

“No more extensions of the budget into the next year, which has created so much confusion in the system.

“We have talked to the National Assembly, and we have agreed to restore normalcy in that space,” he said.

The minister further noted that the government intends to rely more heavily on sukuk, green bonds, and diaspora bonds rather than eurobonds.

He added that there is now improved transparency and that it was not until 1 August that the Federal Government gained visibility into its accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He explained that the federal government has implemented a federal billing system that allows it to monitor precise payments for goods and services.

“We are determined to bring all federal government funds into visibility.

“There is a lot of Federal Government money lying outside of CBN,” he said.

Mr Edun remarked that efforts to tackle inflation were initiated by the fiscal authorities and that the federal government will prioritise expenditure on sectors that enhance productivity.

He stated that two major reforms—foreign exchange unification and the removal of fuel subsidy—have released five per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) into the Federation Account, to be shared among the three tiers of government.

The minister also noted that allocations from the Federation Account to states have risen by approximately 111 per cent.