15% revenue to GDP target on course -Zainab Ahmed

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, has restated ongoing plans by the Federal Government to achieve revenue to GDP ratio of 15 percent target from the 2023 fiscal year.
The minister reiterated the President Buhari-led administration’s determination to meet the target in her remarks at Deloitte 2020 Economic Outlook conference, which focused on economy, infrastructure, fiscal policies and revenue growth initiatives, in Lagos.
Ahmed said the fresh economic growth plans implied that the country would be by the year in focus tripled its revenue-to-GDP ratio, which currently stands at 8 per cent. She maintained the target remained feasible with the implementation of the Finance Act accompanying the yearly budgets in the years ahead.
“The 2020 Appropriation Act is designed to be a budget of fiscal consolidation to strengthen our macroeconomic environment; investing in critical infrastructure, human capital development and enabling institutions especially in key job creating sectors”, the minister said.
Speaking from infrastructure perspectives, the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi announced the construction of the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri railway, adding that the project will start with the total reconstruction of the entire rail corridor.
“We will start the total reconstruction of that rail corridor. The President has assured me of this and announcement on the project will be made soon”, he said. The minister disclosed further that an Industrial Park had been added to the initial design. While responding to a question on access roads to the rail stations, Amaechi said the duty of the government was to build the rail ways, while the state governments have the responsibility of providing access roads to the stations. “What we discussed at our last meeting is, the Railway contractors can build two or three kilometers of roads from the stations, and the state governments can continue from there,” Amaechi said. The Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Nigeria, Mr. Fatai Folarin, said that Nigeria Economic Outlook forum remained an annual event organized by Deloitte to provide insights into the economic direction for the year by reviewing monetary and fiscal policies, as well as other key initiatives of government at all levels. Daily Trust