The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has underscored the urgency of improving Nigeria’s tax-to-gross domestic product ratio to meet the ambitious N34.82 trillion revenue projection.

The LCCI director-general, Chinyere Almona, said this on Thursday in Lagos in reaction to the contents of the 2025 budget proposal.

President Bola Tinubu had, on Wednesday, presented the country’s 2025 budget titled ‘The Restoration Budget: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity’ to a joint session of the National Assembly.

Mr Tinubu revealed that in 2025, the country was targeting N34.82 trillion in revenue to fund the country’s projected expenditure of N47.90 trillion, including N15.81 trillion for debt servicing.

According to Ms Almona, accelerating tax reforms, simplifying processes, and incorporating the informal sector were essential to achieve this. She said that the country must leverage technology to expand the tax net, minimise leakages, and foster

“Fiscal discipline must complement these efforts to effectively manage the N15.81 trillion debt servicing allocation. Nigeria must prioritise high-impact, self-sustaining projects and explore alternative funding mechanisms, such as public-private partnerships, to keep debts within sustainable limits.

“Structural reforms are indispensable to reducing inflation to 15 per cent and stabilising the exchange rate at N1,400 to the dollar,” she said.

She said addressing food and energy supply chain bottlenecks, fast-tracking local petroleum production projects, and fostering alignment between monetary and fiscal policies would restore confidence in the Naira and ease inflationary pressures.

“Achieving the ambitious oil production target of 2.06 million barrels daily requires decisive action to resolve pipeline vandalism, theft, and underinvestment.

“Across the three streams of operations in the oil and gas industry, a sound regulatory environment can boost activities and investments in the short term,” she added.

Addressing the priorities of the budget, Almona lauded Mr Tinubu’s attention to security, infrastructure, education, health, and agriculture to achieve macroeconomic stability and inclusive growth. She explained that the allocation of N4.91 trillion for defence was commendable compared to previous allocations.

She, however, said that the funding must be complemented with enhanced intelligence, surveillance technology, and simultaneous investment in poverty reduction and youth empowerment.

Almona said that the N4.06 trillion earmarked for infrastructure and significant allocations for education and health called for swift and transparent project execution.

According to her, while the budget outlines bold goals, these aspirations hinge on robust policy implementation, sustained execution, and coherence across government strategies.

“Beyond the figures and assumptions, budget implementation is the key performance driver. The 2024 budget implementation cycle extension to June 2025 should be closely watched to avoid such in the future as it can signal weak budget execution.

“We call on the National Assembly to expedite action on the appropriation debates. We are concerned that much-needed scrutiny and consultations on the budget may not be possible if the January-December budget cycle is to be maintained,” she said.

(NAN)