Associate Professor, Department of Banking and Finance, Nasarawa State University, Dr. Uche Uwaleke, has tasked public officials at the three tiers of government against excessive spending, stressing that the state of the Nigerian economy at the moment demands strict financial discipline.
Uwaleke told our correspondent in a phone interview that the structure of the Nigerian economy was still very defective, and that the negative effect of the country’s monolithic, oil-product economy called for concern, adding
that the 2019 fiscal framework for the government should be
ready.
He explained that there was still room for streamlining recurrent spending through executive order, even as he urged that audit “light should be beamed” on various Ministries Departments and Agencies, especially on purchases, and that, realistic targets at revenue generation should be set for them.
According to him, there should be plans for fiscal belt-tightening ahead of the 2019 election.
“Fiscal discipline demands that annual budgets should properly connect with government medium-term plans. There is the need to increase capital allocation to key sectors and this action requires urgent initiatives,”
he said.
In the same vein, an economist with the Standard Chartered Bank, Razia Khan, said Nigeria’s problems had more to do with excessive spending than any attempt to maintain foreign exchange stability.
Khan, who is the Regional Head of Research at the bank, noted that every time a disbursement was made from the excess crude account to the three tiers of government, the foreign exchange component would have been whittled down.
Meanwhile, government revenue increased to N1096.90 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, from N883.81 billion in the third quarter of 2017.
Government revenue refers to all receipts the government gets, including taxes, Customs duties, revenue from state-owned enterprises, capital revenues and foreign aids.
