The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said on Friday the country would need an extra $20 billion to achieve the economic targets by 2027.
He stated this during the citizens’ and stakeholders’ engagement on the implementation of presidential priorities and ministerial deliverables for the fourth quarter of 2024 in Abuja.
He said the additional $20 billion was required to grow the economy by an average of 6.3 percent in the medium term.
The minister said: “We need significantly more growth, an additional $20 billion is the target we need for social infrastructure to facilitate logistics for agriculture.”
He said the government would rely primarily on increased revenue to meet this ambitious target.
He stressed the need for a robust tax revenue framework to secure the necessary funding.
“To achieve this target and grow the economy, the government can only secure the funds from revenue.
“Tax revenue needs to be increased to reach the desired levels.
“We must also control the fiscal deficit and ensure a stable exchange rate to boost investor confidence.
“This will lead to more business activity in the country and increased tax revenue from those investments.
“Once the deficit and exchange rate are under control, it will encourage investors to come and do business in Nigeria. In turn, they will pay their taxes,” Edun stated.
He declared that President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda has been a huge success.
