Budget financing: Loot recovery, not loans

SIR: So much money is expected to revert into the coffers of the government from the various looted public funds being recovered. A report credited to the Minister of Finance indicated that in less than six months the Government has saved more than N1 trillion since the effective operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA)! With the loopholes being discovered and plugged by the Ministry of Finance, it means more money will be saved for the country. We also hope more instutionalised leakages can be uncovered and plugged to avoid unnecessary wastage from the Treasury and abundant resources.

It is against the background that we are of the strong opinion that the Federal Government should aggressively pursue the recovery of debts from its debtors and also recover the money from the alleged Treasury looters instead of going cap in land to international money markets to borrow funds to finance the 2016 Budget.
We definitely have the options to avoid this impending financial enslavement. If there is a will, definitely there will be a way for us to come out of the present economic doldrums as we earnestly pray for our leaders to be endowed with more wisdom from above in times like these.

And in spite of the current economic downturn and the socio-political challenges, the nation will still come out strong and better in Jesus name. This is the reason we must support the anti-corruption crusade of this present Administration.

But the brunt of the socio-economic pains should not be left to be borne by the masses alone. Our leaders should also demonstrate exemplary leadership in this area too. In other words, the masses should not be asked to tighten up their belts while our leaders are losing theirs to accommodate more weights in their waist regions. As the public is bracing up for the expected hardship from the current economic realities, there are some expenditures (overheads, allowances or bonuses) that may be lawful but not necessarily expedient that our public officials may have to cut off. That is part of the price we all need to pay for the mismanagement of our economy by the past Administrations. And may GOD deliver us from the remnants of those locusts/caterpillars army that may still be left behind in our government offices nationwide.