Recession: “The day you start to step towards progression, you are already getting out of it” – Kemi Adeosun

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun

Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance, on Wednesday said that the nation was already getting out of recession, saying the Federal Government had taken steps that were in the best interest of the citizens.

Adeosun disclosed this in her closing remarks at a two-day conference of National Council of Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED) in Abeokuta.

“We are already getting out of recession because of the actions the Federal Government is taking, if you are in a problem, the day you start to step towards progression, you are already getting out of it.

The government is investing more in capital than we have ever invested, we are sorting out infrastructures, we are stopping wastage and so the sign of recovery is already there.

Agriculture and solid mineral are already starting to grow and so they are responding to our policy initiative and we are expected to continue in that direction.

Nigeria is getting out of the trouble that we have found ourselves, we are turning things around and I believe everybody is united and everybody that was here represented the 36 states,” she said.

Adeosun also urged all the State Commissioners for Finance, Accountant-Generals and all finance professionals to always take stock and also compute their own balance sheet, saying it would assist them before decisions were taken.

She explained that the move would allow the states to know their liabilities, strengths and ways to go about their finances in the future,  adding that it would in no small measure helped the Federal Government.

“We need to take stock, one of the most important thing I want to encourage all to do is to compute your own balance sheet, what are your assets, what are your liability, know your position.

What are those pension liability, contractors liabilities that are hidden, bring them out, compute them, know them, it is very important.

One of those things we have realised in the Federal level is that if that had been done we would have probably made better decisions in the past.

If you don’t have the data you can carry on spending as if all is well only for a problem to come out as it has done in our own case to affect us.

I just want to charge everybody to quietly compute your balance sheet and know it so that you can make decisions that really have the full picture,” she said.