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Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has outlined measures being taken by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to reduce the cost of governance.

Speaking at the 2014 Budget Breakdown the 2014 at Transcop Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Okonjo-Iweala said yesterday that this year’s budget “reinforces Government’s efforts at curbing the cost of governance.” She said that, to achieve this, all training programmes for personnel of MDAs and parastatals are to hold in Nigeria not outside country, foreign travels by government officials would be curtailed, while the extension of biometric verification to all MDAs would be accelerated in order to further reduce the number of ghost workers.

The minister reiterated that the 2014 Budget focuses on policies and investments to support the productive sectors of the economy so as to stimulate job creation and inclusive growth.

She explained that the 2014 expenditure comprises the regular budget of N4.643 trillion and the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) budget of N268.37 billion.

The budget, according to her, is derived from three sources: share of Federation Account revenues, 48.5%; share of Value Added Tax (VAT) 14%; Federal Government’s independent revenues, 100%.

On infrastructure development, she noted that “the budget beefs up investment towards completion of critical infrastructure project including power, rail, roads and aviation sectors.”

Okonjo-Iweala equally disclosed that government would move to boost peace and security in the North-East through the establishment of a development programme, with the cooperation of development partners, via Federal Initiative for North East(FINE) scheme aimed at helping to tackle food production, health and education challenges in the troubled region.

•Photo shows Okonjo-Iweala.

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