FG Pledges To Partner CBN, SEC On National Savings Scheme

The Federal Government has pledged to partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Security and Exchange Commission, and others to implement recommendations by the National Savings Scheme.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed made this known on Tuesday, February 22, Naija News reports.

The Minister’s statement followed the reception of a report from the NSC earlier.

It could be recalled that the NSC working group was constituted virtually by the minister in May 2020 during the dreaded COVID-19 outbreak across the nation.

Naija News understands that the group is saddled with the responsibilities of studying the National Savings Strategy Paper and advising the Federal Government on the feasibility of the proposals and/or recommending changes.

Also among its duty is advising on ways and means of mobilizing and channelling corporate and individual savings to accelerate domestic capital formation to support entrepreneurs and enterprise development, and consequently achieve the urgent task of diversifying the economy and deepening the capital market among others.

In its report delivered before the Minister of Finance earlier, the committee said while it believed that a national savings scheme for Nigeria as proposed in the strategy document is feasible, it must be a mandatory savings scheme for individuals in the formal sector.

It also noted that citizens between the ages of 18 – 50 would be mandated to participate in the scheme, adding that a national corporate savings scheme was not feasible at this time and that the savings scheme must be driven by incentives, primarily tax.

In her response to the report, Mrs Ahmed commended the working group for the recommendation and promised that all that is noted in the report will be reviewed for implementation.

She said that the mobilisation of domestic savings for capital formation and investment remained a critical success factor for harnessing the true growth potential of the Nigerian economy.

The Minister said, “I am delighted to receive the report of the working group on the proposed national savings scheme after your inauguration in 2020 which was conducted virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Mobilisation of domestic savings for capital formation and investment remains a critical success factor for harnessing the true growth potential of the Nigerian economy.

They just launched Medium-Term National Development Plan 2021-2025 recognizes the role of a deep financial market in supporting the high and sustainable growth the plan aims to attain. I hope the proposals made in this report will guide Government in taking actionable steps to actualize the objectives outlined.

“My team and I will review the report and work with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other stakeholders to ensure we fully realise the potential benefits of the Scheme to the country.

“We understand that this initiative will involve several other agencies such as the CBN, FIRS, NAICOM and other important stakeholders. We will leverage on our collaborative working environment within the government to ensure we get the  necessary buy-in and commitment from relevant stakeholders.”