FG facing paucity of funds – Senate

Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Thursday said the Federal Government was facing paucity of fund to build critical infrastructure.

Lawan stated this at the opening of a five-day public hearing on the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, organized by the Senate Joint Committee on Finance and National  Planning.

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He said the government’s dwindling revenue occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic has made it “inevitable for Nigeria to continue to borrow” to fund critical projects.

Lawan said there was urgent need for the legislature and the executive arms of government to work out modalities that would encourage Public-Private Partnership to build infrastructure.

Lawan said with the current volume of electronic transactions in the country, Nigeria should be able raise more than N500bn revenue from Stamp Duties.

The FIRS Chairman, Mohammed Nami, had informed the lawmakers that his agency was aiming to raise N500bn from Stamp Duties in 2021.