Posted on: 05:34 Fri, 24 Jun 2016



The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi
Adeosun, Thursday, said the
ministry cannot afford to pay the
N1.2 billion requested by its
workers, while she confirmed that
the Federal Government was
already borrowing funds to be able
to pay the N165 billion a month
needed to cover civil service
salaries.

Adeosun, in a statement in Abuja,
after the meeting held with
protesting workers of the Ministry
of Finance on Wednesday, said she
does not have any power to pay
N1.2 billion, which was not in the
budget of the Ministry.

According to her, all government
departments currently face a very
real squeeze in finances as the
country grapples with the financial
crisis inherited from previous
administrations, adding also that
the collective priority, therefore,
must be on working together to get
the whole economy back on its feet.

She stated that the most important
thing for management and staff
was to get a common
understanding of what the
government needed to do to regain
financial stability.

She said she intend to work with
staff of the Finance Ministry to see
how, together, those plans could be
implemented as quickly as possible,
thereby stimulating growth within
a new diversified economy.

She expressed understanding for
the Ministry of Finance staff who
felt they should get additional
bonuses, based on their past
dealings with the previous
administration, while she pointed
out that many people across the
country were struggling to find
work or losing their jobs, in
addition to the fact that fellow civil
servants in many states are not
getting their salaries.