Finance Minister says FG will present N6trn as 2017 budget

dimeji akinloye

October 26, 2016 7:28 AM

The minister of Finance said the government spends over N3 trillion on salaries, debts and pensions.

Minister of Finance,

Adeosun disclosed this on Tuesday, October 25 when members of the Senate Committee on Finance visited her ministry.

She said the figure will be presented because the government spends over N3 trillion on salaries, debts and pensions.

The minister said: "Salaries on their own are about N1.8 trillion to N1.9 trillion. And by the time you add the Judiciary, the National Assembly, pensions, and others, you are at N2 trillion. Add debt service, which is about N1.4 trillion. So, if you want to bring down the size of the budget, you won’t be able to do very many capital projects.

"That’s the problem, and that has been the vicious circle that has been affecting Nigeria for so long. By the time we pay salaries, pay debts, nothing is left.

"So, I think for the next few years, we have to take a gamble, as a nation. We must take a gamble that if we fix our roads, fix power, can we generate more than that additional cost? I think we can."

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Adeosun lamented that it has become impossible for the government to generate revenue from revenue-generating agencies because of corruption, citing the Nigerian customs as an example.

dimeji akinloye