Minister Stresses Need For Extra Resources To Advance Nigeria’s Development

The federal government has raised concerns over the country’s ability to fund its ambitious development agenda.

To address this, the federal government has admitted that it needs to attract significantly more resources than is currently available.

This call was made by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, at the management retreat of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) held in Abuja.

Senator Bagudu noted the critical importance of developing a robust financial system with integrity to achieve Nigeria’s long-term goals.

“Our Agenda 2050, a statement of our national aspiration, requires that we invest at least $100 billion annually to achieve a GDP per capita of $33,000 or more by 2050,” he stated.

However, he cautioned that the current level of financing falls far short of this target, and stressed the urgency for increased financial inflows.

He pointed out that while President Bola Tinubu’s administration has implemented bold and courageous economic reforms aimed at boosting revenue, the nation is still far from achieving the necessary financial flows to meet its development objectives.

“We still need to be where we should be; we are not near the kind of flows we expect,” the minister noted, stressing the need for greater efforts to attract both domestic and foreign investments.

To illustrate the challenge, Senator Bagudu compared Nigeria’s $20 billion federal budget with those of countries like Brazil and Indonesia, which have similar population sizes but much larger budgets of $750 billion and $210 billion, respectively. This stark contrast, he argued, underscores the need for Nigeria to enhance its financial capacity.

The minister emphasized that a sound financial system is essential to attracting the investments required to finance the country’s development plan.

“The plan is to use private sector or capital market money to fund the plan. Because of that, we need confidence, integrity, and soundness in our financial system,” he explained.

He also suggested that international rating agencies should adopt a more generous approach in their assessments of Nigeria, considering the significant reforms the country has undertaken.

Senator Bagudu praised the NFIU for its role in enhancing the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system but stressed the importance of more effective communication of its activities to gain public acknowledgement and improve the country’s credit rating.

“Our credit rating should improve. We have taken measures similar to those in countries that have achieved significant increases in credit ratings. We have established and committed institutions, particularly the NFIU, and should benefit from them,” he said.

He further noted that communication plays a crucial role in reinforcing the progress made by institutions like the NFIU.

“Communication matters, so we reinforce and punish wrongdoing while drawing attention to our great work to enhance the integrity and soundness of our financial assistance,” the minister added.