As Nigeria battles to grow revenue amid huge sovereign debt, the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, on Thursday, said that fiscal policies and reforms aimed at not only providing short and medium term relief but also addressing the longstanding challenges of domestic revenue mobilization were being prioritised.
Ahmed, in her goodwill message at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) International Day Commemorative event themed, ‘Gender Equality Today for A Sustainable Tomorrow’, also said that the economic and social empowerment of women and girls was critical to Nigeria’s collective vision of a prosperous and resilient Nigeria.”
In her words: “If we are to have a stronger and more inclusive economy, it is crucial that we take a long term and strategic approach to ensuring that women are economically empowered. We must continue working towards the development and implementation of policies, regulatory frameworks, and programmes that are inclusive and gender-sensitive; and we must remove the socio-economic and cultural barriers that prevent women from participating fully in society and from reaping the economic benefits of their participation.”
The Minister added that sufficient funding and gender sensitive fiscal policies remain critical.
She stated that the government was also prioritising work towards improving internally generated revenue, blocking tax leakages, creating new tax sources, and promoting effective tax collection.
According to her, this is being achieved in part through continued implementation of the Strategic Revenue Generation Initiative (SRGI), and through continued incremental fiscal reforms via the introduction of annual Finance Bills, as well as reducing administrative inefficiencies and lowering the overall cost of governance.
“Through the implementation of the annual Finance Acts, we are providing tax relief and other support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), many of which are women-owned,” she said.
Additionally, the recently finalised medium term National Development Plan (NDP), she stated, was developed with a gender lens, as it will be the long term NDP currently being finalised.
“We at the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, are focusing on comprehensive gender mainstreaming across fiscal policy and public financial management. This holistic approach represents a critical paradigm shift towards systematic and scalable reforms, and leverages the coordination benefits of having the finance, budgeting and planning functionalities under the same federal ministry for the first time in Nigeria’s history.
Mrs Ahmed also stated: “The interventions include; gender responsive budgeting, and assessments of the gender responsiveness of key fiscal interventions (including fiscal stimulus packages) with specific commitments aimed at improving the safety, livelihoods, and economic status of women and girls.
Ahmed noted that the country was developing an Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) to strengthen planning processes; and strategically identify and mobilise the resources required to finance most recent medium and long term development plans.
“We are committed to ensuring that the INFF is gender responsive, in line with overall government commitments around gender responsive national development planning and financing.
She concluded that women’s social and economic empowerment remain critical to ensuring inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development in Nigeria, and to achieving shared goals as a nation.
“By empowering women and girls, and promoting their full participation in society (particularly in leadership and decision-making roles), we will be ensuring improved economic development outcomes
