From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has reflected on President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure and her four-year stint as a Minister in charge of the economy and applauded the administration for championing various reforms that planted the country on a progressive path.
She spoke at a farewell dinner in her honour in Abuja at the weekend.
According to her, the Buhari administration created a cocktail of intervention programmes and reforms which led to the early exit of the 2016 recession and rebound from the COVID-19-led recession in 2020.
past eight years have been eventful, marked notably by the profound impact of two recessions stemming from the 2016 oil price collapse and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges,
“Swift monetary and fiscal responses facilitated the economy’s prompt recovery from these downturns. For us, the story has been that of resilience and managing multiple challenges across very difficult times”, she said.
Ahmed added that her Ministry implemented far reaching measures to contain the adverse impact of the pandemic on citizens, as well as to resuscitate the economy.
“These measures encompassed various fiscal instruments, such as tax relief measures to alleviate the burden on businesses and vulnerable households. Government adopted various approaches to finance spending, such as budget reallocation, supplementary budgets, draw-down on government savings, and additional borrowings.
“The Ministry implemented notable reforms to support economic recovery and resilience; committed to medium-term revenue and expenditure frameworks to strengthen public finances, create fiscal space, and keep public debt on a sustainable path.
“Our dedication to revitalizing revenues over the medium term, led to improved non-oil revenue under the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI). Despite revenue challenges, the government consistently met its debt service commitments, while post financing assessments showed adequate capacity to repay loans.
“As economic growth gained firmer footing, our focus shifted towards fiscal consolidation. This included streamlining new taxes and intensifying expenditure control measures, with resolute commitment to advancing expenditure rationalization initiatives. The passage of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which took effect in early 2022, and the consequent establishment of the NNPC Limited, is expected to increase investments and strengthen oil revenues. Additionally, there were Executive Orders on Promoting Procurement by Government Agencies; and the Promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the Business Environment”, she added.
She noted that economic diversification remained a key priority for Nigeria. “Consequently, our development plans encompassed initiatives for developing supportive infrastructure and reforms aimed at reducing dependency on oil, alleviating inequality and unemployment, establishing robust and effective institutions, and addressing governance issues”, she said.
She thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity.
She also appreciated the Governor of Kaduna State Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, his Nasarawa State counterpart, Mallam Abdullahi Sule, Gombe State, Mallam Mohammed Inuwa Yahya and others.
Also speaking, Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning said the Minister achieved a lot and championed various reforms in the economy like returning Nigeria to January to December budget cycle, road infrastructure schemes, agenda 2050, national poverty reduction programme, safe schools initiative, support for agric, MSMEs, pushed for industrial peace and harmony. “She was a unifier and a team player. Her achievements resonate everywhere”, he added.
In his goodwill message, the Permanent Secretary, Budget and National Planning, Nebolisa Anako, said on Ahmed’s watch, Nigeria witnessed frugal management of resources, built bridges across all divides to ensure no one was left behind.