The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, has stated that the sale of national assets is not necessarily for budget financing, adding that some dead or non-performing assets will be sold to credible investors who can revive them.
The Minister disclosed this at the maiden edition of the State House briefing on Thursday at the State House, which was focused on the economy and economic recovery.
“The Nigerian Government recorded a 97% budget performance.
“Every year we have provisions for sale of FGN assets. 2021 is not different. There is a Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) workplan for this. Assets that are dead or non-performing will be sold to credible investors who can revive them. Asset sales are not primarily for budget financing,” Ahmed stated.
The Minister also said that Nigeria’s debt was still very much within sustainable limits and that the FG needed to “roll out infrastructure now, and grow the economy now, not later. Our focus is on growing our revenues.”
READ: 2020 budget performance: FG achieves 89% capital release in December 2020
What you should knowÂ
- Recall Nairametrics reported recently that the Finance Minister had announced that the Federal Government said the Finance Bill 2020 was designed to reduce import duties on some commodities, including vehicles, thereby checking inflation.
- Premium Times released an exclusive report stating that the FG proposed to sell or concession no fewer than 36 of its properties to raise funds, largely to finance the 2021 budget.
- The assets include the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), the Abuja International Conference Centre (ICC), some unnamed refineries, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Abuja Water Board, Nigerian Film Corporation, and many others.
