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By Andrew Haruna | Nigeria Information In the present day
ABUJA — The Federal Authorities has cleared over ₦2 trillion in excellent capital funds obligations from the 2024 fiscal yr and has pledged to prioritise the well timed launch of 2025 capital funds, The Bureau Information experiences.
Talking at a ministerial press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Financial system, Wale Edun, mentioned the debt clearance displays the federal government’s renewed dedication to fiscal self-discipline and improved financial administration.
“Within the final quarter, we paid contractors over ₦2 trillion to settle excellent capital funds obligations from final yr. For the time being, we’ve got no pending obligations that aren’t being processed or financed,” Edun acknowledged.
He emphasised that authorities companies should solely decide to initiatives when funds are duly authorised and made out there.
Macroeconomic Outlook Reveals Constructive Tendencies
Edun famous that Nigeria recorded a commerce surplus of over $4 billion within the first quarter of 2025, with exports rising by 9.8%, trade charges stabilising and international reserves standing at $39 billion in July.
He credited the constructive indicators to the coverage course of the Tinubu administration, including that “Nigeria is now open for enterprise” and positioned as a gorgeous funding vacation spot.
Edun additionally pointed to fiscal reforms similar to halting unauthorised use of Methods and Means advances from the Central Financial institution, which helped scale back the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio from 52.1% to 38.8% after GDP rebasing.
Complete Tax Reform Coming in 2026
The minister disclosed {that a} complete tax reform framework will take impact in January 2026, consolidating all tax legal guidelines right into a single construction and eliminating greater than 50 overlapping taxes.
As well as, a brand new income optimisation platform, powered by digitisation and synthetic intelligence, will centralise collections from authorities companies and block income leakages.
Progress Targets and Social Safety
Edun reaffirmed the federal government’s medium-term purpose of attaining 7% annual GDP development, supported by funding in agriculture, healthcare, schooling, know-how, manufacturing, and infrastructure.
He additionally confirmed that direct money transfers to susceptible Nigerians have been ongoing, with eight million beneficiaries already reached out of the focused 15 million. All funds are being delivered utilizing biometric verification and digital platforms to make sure transparency.
Different initiatives embody:
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Nigeria Schooling Mortgage Fund
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Client Credit score Scheme
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Youth Funding Financial institution (forthcoming)
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€600m facility for digital and inventive sectors
“Our dedication is to construct an economic system that works for everybody — with transparency, resilience, and objective,” Edun mentioned.
