FIRS boss defends FG’s consistent borrowing despite President Tinubu’s claim that government has met its revenue target (video)

The chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, has defended the Federal Governments borrowing plan despite President Tinubu's claim that the government has attained its revenue projection for 2025. While speaking during the Meet the Press session organised by the Presidential Media Team in Abuja, Adedeji insisted that loans remain a legitimate part of Nigerias budgetary framework even when revenue targets were met. According to him, the Tinubu administration had already halted the controversial Ways and Means practice, with the outstanding loans now properly recognised as Federal Government debt. If you remember, one of the decisions of Mr President is to collateralise Ways and Means. We stopped printing and the whole loan is taken as Federal Government loan. We are paying principal and interest, and that is why you have stability in the system and no pressure on the exchange rate, he said. The FIRS boss noted that borrowing should not be viewed as a failure of revenue generation, but as a normal component of a countrys fiscal plan. What is the component of a budget of a country? You have expenditure, revenue and loan in all budgets. If my expenditure for the year is N100,000 and my plan is that N80,000 is from revenue and I will borrow N20,000, and I have done N80,000 in revenue and borrowed N20,000 according to my budget, what is the problem with that? Adedeji asked. He stressed that borrowing was part of the economic ecosystem globally, adding that no individual or government survives solely on income without credit support. Borrowing is not a problem. Banks are part of our economy. There is no country or individual in the world that survives based on its own income. When government borrows from banks, we pay interest. It is from that interest banks pay salaries, from salaries they pay taxes to state governments, and from profits I collect taxes, he said According to him, borrowing for infrastructure projects such as roads is a sustainable economic strategy since future tax collections from those who use the facilities help to repay the debt. So when Mr President said we have met our target or we are doing well in revenue, and they say why are we borrowing? Is borrowing not part of the budget we submitted to the National Assembly? Are we borrowing outside what is approved? the FIRS boss queriedWatch a video of him speaking below The post FIRS boss defends FGs consistent borrowing despite President Tinubus claim that government has met its revenue target (video) appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.