DMO tasks president-elect on revenue generation

Ms Patience Oniha, DG, DMO

Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) and the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) have tasked the incoming government with revenue generation to tackle Nigeria’s debt deficit.

The stakeholders made the call on Wednesday, in Abuja at a one-day Leadership and Development Policy Dialogue Series (LDPDS) with the theme “Nigerian Debt Sustainability Threat: Issues, implications, Lessons and Solutions for the Next Administration”.

Director, Portfolio Management Department of the DMO, Mr Dele Afolabi, said that Nigeria had to be deliberate with revenue generation to harness a balanced economy because currently, the revenue did not match the high debt servicing burden of the country.

According to Afolabi, this is imperative since revenue pays debt because the more revenue you have, the less you have to borrow going forward,

He said although Nigeria had the highest Gross Domestic Product(GDP) in Africa, its government-generated revenue to GDP ratio is lower than that of most African countries and this can be tackled through taxes among others.

“The people are not paying the right taxes. We don’t have the right culture of taxation and revenue for the government. So, I think, looking at the next government, the key focus should be on how to grow government revenue.

“Most people really don’t pay taxes apart from people that receive salaries. In the formal sector, a lot of people are either not paying taxes at all or not paying as they should. So, there are a lot of leakages in terms of government revenue.

“If we have the highest GDP in Africa, then we should also have the highest revenue but that is not the situation.’’

Afolabi, therefore, recommended that government should reduce its over-dependence on crude oil and harness other resources and solid minerals and block all leakages in order to grow revenue to reduce accumulating debt.

He also called for stringent action against tax defaulters, adding that in other climes, evading tax payment was criminal and people go to jail for it. (VON)

Dayo Sunday