Revenues from Customs have declined to N304.6 billion as a result of the Federal Government’s fiscal incentives, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said. Speaking Monday in Lagos at a breakfast meeting with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) on the performance of the economy and projection for 2014, she said the figure which is for the third quarter, represents a 14 per cent decline from the N356.01 billion recorded for same period in 2012.
Okonjo-Iwaela said Federal Government’s revenues in 2014 are estimated at N3.58 trillion, indicating a 13 per cent decline from the 2013 budget estimates. She said the expenditure in 2014 is projected at N4.5 trillion, representing a 9.9 per cent decline from the 2013 figure.
She said addressing revenue shortfalls in 2014 would require eliminating inefficiencies in government expenditure through fighting corruption in the public service, reducing the cost of governance and rationalisation of agencies in line with recommendations of the Orosanye Report, among other measures.
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