The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday, declared that Nigeria must increase its revenue generation capacity or risk slipping into fiscal crisis.

She stated this in Abuja while assuming duties at the Finance Ministry Headquarters.

The Minister stated: “We have to increase revenues; if not our country will slip into fiscal crisis. As you know, our nation is facing a near-fiscal crisis, and it is up to us to make sure that it is arrested and ensure that we don’t slip into a crisis.

“We have been growing in eight consecutive quarters, but it is a growth that is still fragile. Our revenues have grown, but they are still 55 per cent from what we have budgeted.

“We still have to pay salaries and other statutory obligations. We have to pay debts and we also need to operate on a day-to-day basis, and we need to do capital projects for the sustained growth of our economy.”

Ahmed emphasised that President Muhammadu Buhari has doubled the task of her Ministry by fusing it with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

She attributed the move to the good work done by the staff of the Minister, especially during the period of recession.

“The President has just doubled our assignment. We got this assignment because of the quality of work that we have produced. Ministry of Finance has one of the best cerebral civil servants that we have today.

“That we have been re-matched with the ministry of budget and national planning is also a very weighty responsibility that has been given to us,” she added.

The Minister encouraged ministry staff to roll up their sleeves for the task ahead.

“We will be reaching out to our brothers and sisters in the Budget and National Planning; where there are gaps, we will bridge them, and we will make some changes to make sure that we work better together.

“The President has brought me back here so that we can continue the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), and the other initiatives that we collectively started together.

“We have to increase revenues; if not our country will slip into fiscal crisis,” she noted. (The Sun)

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