In its bid to fund the 2018 budget deficit of N2.05trillion the Federal Government has concluded plans to sell some national assets. The Director-General of Budget Office Ben Akabueze, told the House of Representatives Joint Committees on 2018-2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)/ Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) about the plan.The national assets include:
- The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS)
- National Arts Theater Complex
- Non-core assets from the mines and steel sector like houses and estates
- Power plants under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP)
The purpose of the proposed sale is to generate sufficient revenue to finance the country’s annual budgets for the next three years (2018-2020).
It would be recalled that President Buhari recently presented a proposed budget of N8.6trillion to the national assembly with total revenue of N6.6trillion, while the non-oil revenue is targeted at N4.17tillion and Oil revenue is put at N2.4trillion. According to him, the country is generating too little revenue, hence it is expedient to borrow, adding that the reverse would be the case if actually there were more revenue collectibles.
Mr.Akabueze also noted that proceeds from the privatization of key government assets were factored into the 2018 budget to finance, especially, the budget deficit of N2.005trillion, much of which would be financed through domestic and foreign borrowing.
Reported by: Fikayo Owoeye
