The Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Chukwuyere Anamekwe has called for fiscal discipline in the management of government revenues to reduce the current pressure on funds.
Anamekwe made the call at the 4th Retreat for members of the Technical Sub-committee on Cash Management, Tuesday in Nasarawa State.
He noted, that due to dwindling revenues, the Treasury had resorted to other sources mothly in order to augment for the payment of Federal Government public servants.
The AGF alerted that government revenue was under serious attack due to increasing government expenditure, therefore, called for articulate deployment of fiscal discipline and strategies to mitigate the challenges.
“Records available indicate that due to dwindling revenues, the Treasury had resorted to other sources in order to augment for the payment of Federal Government public servants.
“There is an increase in government expenditure due to increasing security challenges and social needs of the citizenry. These call for an articulate deployment of fiscal discipline and strategies that will help mitigate these challenges”, he said.
The 3-day retreat with the theme: “Enthroning Fiscal Discipline in Nigeria’s Public Financial Management: A Clarion Call to All Stakeholders” was aimed at improving the capabilities of Stakeholders and getting them more acquainted with Nigeria’s Fiscal challenges and advance recovery strategies.
He said, the theme and objective of the retreat couldn’t have been better captioned, given the fiscal challenges at the moment, therefore, urged the committee to brainstorm on ways to cut down cost of governance in the country.
He thanked the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, for her consistent supports in granting the approval for the retreat, adding that it has improved the capacities of members and stakeholders.
“This gesture has continued to help in improving the capacities of members and stakeholders; thereby getting them more acquainted with Nigeria’s Fiscal challenges and other cash management related matters. This retreat, will no doubt help in the advancement of the desired recovery strategies”, he said.
Earlier, the Director, Funds, OAGF, Mr Sabo Mohammed explained that fiscal discipline was an ideal balance between revenues and expenditure of government in an economy.
Mr Mohammed said, financial resource scarcity has become a central policy concern, with predictions of rising populations, natural resource depletion and hunger, therefore, requires that governments maintain fiscal positions that are consistent with macroeconomic stability and sustained economic growth.
“To this end, it warrants avoiding excessive borrowing and debt accumulation”, he added.
Mr Mohammed said, the persistence of deficits, as well as the inexorable rise in public sector indebtedness, over the past years call for concerns.
He said, lack of fiscal discipline would certainly put pressures on government funds, consequently, appealed to the members of the committee to develop feasible and sustainable solutions on how to manage the fiscal challenges in optimal and efficient ways.
The event has in attendance, the representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Debt Management Office, Budget Office of the Federation and others.
