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FG Cuts 2019 Spending, To Focus On Revenue Generation

October 19, 2018

Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, said the government will borrow less in 2019 and improve the tax to GDP ratio as well.

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Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, has said the country will focus on getting more funds from oil revenues and increasing non-oil revenues in 2019.

While presenting the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2019-2021 on Thursday, the former Senator said a budget proposal of N8.6 trillion has been planned for next year, as against the N9.12 trillion approved by the National Assembly and signed by the president for 2018.

He also noted that the government will borrow less in 2019 and improve the tax to GDP ratio as well.

“In 2019, we will concentrate on getting more revenue, oil and non-oil, by squeezing the maximum from oil, and build up non-oil revenue by an average of 30 per cent up from the previous figure.

"Here, we all know that the rate of tax to the GDP is still very low. We can do much better than we are doing. So, going forward, we will rely less on borrowing and debt, but do more on revenue build-up so that debt service to revenue is brought down," he said.

The presidency projects an oil output of 2.3 million barrels per day at the cost of $60 per barrel. It had also made a similar oil production average for 2018. However, the country's production has so far hovered between 1.9 and 2.02 million bpd.

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Economy