Tinubu has steered economy in right direction, Bagudu tells NASS

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, yesterday told the National Assembly that President Bola Tinubu has steered the economy in the right direction and is determined to stay the course.

According to him, Tinubu’s economic reforms are working and the economy is on the path to full recovery.

He also assured the lawmakers that the present administration will generate the funds to finance the 2025 financial plans through innovative financing and line budget allocation, adding that the President has charged the petroleum, solid mineral, and creative sectors with developing their potential.

Speaking when he appeared before the joint National Assembly Committee on National Planning, led by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi in Abuja, Bagudu said the economy has had GDP growth of more than three per cent for three successive quarters, compared to less than one per cent in industrialised countries.

Positive trajectory

The minister, who listed other positive impacts, including recovery of the economy, deficit reduction, and non-recourse to ways and means beyond legal limits from over 6.1% in 2023 to less than 4% in 2024, said global business leaders and rating agencies have acknowledged these.

He said: “President Bola Tinubu has steered the economy in the right direction, and we are determined to stay the course.

“Under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, and with your support, our economy has turned the bend and facing the right direction. The Renewed Hope Agenda strategy of once and for all confronting our decades of under-investment is working, and the positive trajectory is being sustained.

“The reform strategy has enhanced the liquidity of the sub-nationals — states and local governments. FAAC allocations to all tiers of government are on the increase. With the elimination of forex and fuel subsidies, among other reforms, the increase shall be sustained”.

Bagudu emphasised that with the help of the National Assembly, his ministry, which is the chief marketer of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Agenda 2050 strategies, will implement innovative financing measures to expand economic activities and generate substantial revenue to fund on-going critical infrastructure.

“As the chief marketer of the Renewed Hope Agenda and Agenda 2050 strategies, the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is poised to intensify its innovative financing to take forward the delivery of the Renewed Hope infrastructure, including housing, roads and railways.

“We shall more aggressively raise funding for our creative and high-impact programmes, including Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund, Consumer Credit, National Agriculture Development Fund, Mortgage Fund, CNG Energy transition, Student Loans Fund, and support to NANO and MSMEs.”

According to Bagudu, in addition to the funds that will accrue from maintaining fuel and removing forex subsidies, the administration is determined to increase crude oil production beyond the estimated 2.06 barrels per day at a lower cost.

He said: “Our ministry and agencies are leading many engagements to get more resources to finance critical infrastructure in your constituencies,” Bagudu told the legislators, explaining that there would be more spending with more revenues.

Legislators urged to pass tax bills

He urged legislators to pass the tax reform bills, saying their passage will smoothen government’s path to achieving its 18% revenue-to-GDP target, assuring them that the Tinubu administration remains focused on achieving a higher growth rate that would include all this year.

On the ministry’s bilateral and multilateral coordination mandate, the minister noted that the economic reforms earned the appreciation and respect of the nation’s development partners, adding that many countries, including China, had comprehensively scaled up their relations and partnerships with Nigeria.

He also emphasised that the ministry signed many high-impact agreements on behalf of the country last year, including five with China and six with the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

The minister, who thanked the National Assembly for its budgetary approval of his ministry’s four parastatals, which he said helped the agencies deliver their mandates maximally, highlighted the critical roles of the parastatals in the nation’s social and economic growth and development.

He said the ministry supported them in guarding their independence jealously to sustain their credibility.

Speaking on the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, led by Dr Adeyemi Adeniran, the minister said the agency is consistent and timely in the release of statistics on the nation’s economic activities despite the paucity of funds, adding that the agency was concluding its work on rebasing the GDP, using 2019 prices.

Peoplesmind