Diversified economy crucial to sustainable growth, says Edun

Federal Government is counting on non-oil revenue-generating agencies to meet its budgetary commitments, urging them to use technology to prevent financial leakages and waste.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made this known in Abuja, yesterday, at the fifth National Treasury Workshop, organised by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

The workshop had the theme, “Nigeria’s Revenue Challenges and the Way Forward: Exploring Non-Oil Alternatives”. According to Edun, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Lydia Shehu, the theme of the workshop is both timely and imperative.

“In this year’s budget, about N14 trillion is for debt servicing. That is not the main issue, the real challenge is generating enough revenue.

“The responsibility falls on non-oil revenue agencies. To achieve this, we must deploy information technology tools to eliminate leakages and waste,” he said.
Edun acknowledged the challenges limiting revenue growth in non-oil sectors, such as poor infrastructure, high business costs, bureaucratic hurdles, regulatory inefficiencies, insecurity, low tax compliance, and widespread financial leakages.

“It underscores the urgent need to rethink our revenue generation strategies. This is especially true in light of the volatile nature of oil revenues, which has long been the backbone of our economy but recently facing a downturn.

“We must, therefore, embrace a diversified economic approach that taps into the immense potential of non-oil sectors such as agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing, tourism, digital economy and creative industries,” he said.

He said recent global shifts in energy policies, declining oil demand and fluctuating crude prices had made it abundantly clear that Nigeria could not afford to be overly dependent on oil revenues, adding that Nigeria was blessed with abundant natural and human resources that remained largely untapped.

“The question before us today is, how can we harness these resources effectively to drive sustainable economic growth and development?

“This workshop seeks to provide actionable answers to this question by fostering robust discussions among key stakeholders in the financial and economic landscape,” he said.

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, said the workshop was a yearly occasion where seasoned technocrats were invited to rub minds on salient issues confronting the nation’s economy.

Madein said that it was to proffer workable solutions to move the country forward.

She said that the theme for this year’s edition was considered apt considering the state of the economy and owing to a multiplicity of factors ranging from the exchange rate volatility, low revenue performance and rising costs.