Economist tasks FG to reduce its expenditures to meet projected revenue

An economist, Prof. Evans Osabuohien, has appealed to the Federal Government to plan its proposed expenditures on projected revenue in 2023 Budget to reduce the funds used for debt servicing.

Osabuohien, also a Head of Economics Department, Covenant University, Ota, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday.

He spoke while reacting to the World Bank report that Nigeria would use 123.4 per cent of its proposed 2023 budget for debt servicing.

NAN reports that the new World Bank Lead Economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, made this known during a presentation in November.

The economist noted that the Federal Government needed to look inwardly to address the country ‘s challenges, as the nation would be using one third of proposed 2023 budget on servicing debt.

“The country needs to cut its expenditures according to its revenue so that the debt level could be drastically reduced to give room for building of infrastructure development.

“We need to spend more of borrowed funds on viable capital projects that would generate investment and translate into infrastructure development and boost economic activities, where more taxes would be paid to the government,” he said.

Osabuohien urged the Federal Government to intensify its efforts in fighting corruption so that more money could be recovered from corrupt officials and used for building infrastructure development.

Tbe economist emphasised the need to minimise the cost of governance, adding that this was contributing to the rising debt level of the country.

Osabuohien also called on the Federal Government to make concerted efforts in providing enabling environment through provision of stable power, good road network and adequate security so that the existing and new investments could thrive to generate more employment opportunities and revenue for the government.