FG’s N20.4trn resource figure raises more questions than answers — Dele Oye
…as new spending commitments hit N30.6trn
…Raises fresh concerns over $5bn Abu Dhabi facility
….Says Nigeria remains heavily dependent on borrowing despite subsidy removal.
‘How Naira lost 29% of value in four years’
By Nnamdi Ojiego
The Federal Government’s economic reform figures have raised a fresh fiscal question, with former President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Hon. Dele Oye, drawing attention to the widening gap between the additional resources available to the government and the new spending pressures it has incurred since the removal of fuel subsidy.
Oye, currently Chairman of Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics Ltd/Gte, said the figures presented by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, showed that the Federal Government had recorded about N20.4 trillion in incremental resources, against additional expenditure pressures of N30.64 trillion.
The figures, he said, provide a more complicated picture of the fiscal impact of the reforms than the headline figure of N15.8 trillion in subsidy savings suggests.