As the Federal Government continues its attempt at curtailing revenue leakages in every sector of the economy, especially the oil and gas, Minister
of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has said the
implementation of the new policy on weights and measures, will save the country about N474 billion and earn it N17.4billion revenue.
The minister said this in Abuja on Monday at a seminar for trade and investment correspondents and business editors.
Aganga said that the Federal Government was determined to ensure
that adequate measures were put in place to enable Nigerians to get
value for local and imported products.
"All over the world, there is legal meteorology which ensures that what you buy is accurate and legal.
"If you look at the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency
Initiative Report, there is a lot of leakage in the oil and gas
industry, either because the meters are not working or they are not
installed at the right places.
"But for the first time, President Goodluck Jonathan has given us
approval to commence that operation across all sectors of the economy;
we are starting with the oil and gas, telecoms and power sector,” he
said.
Aganga stressed that when the process was completed, ``we expect to
save for the country about 3 billion U.S. dollars (about N474) and also
generate revenue of about N17.4 billion for the government in 2013.’’
The minister, however, noted that the value and volume of the
country’s export had increased significantly within the last one year.
"In terms of export, the volume has gone up by 17.23 per cent, while the value has also gone up by 23.5 per cent.
"We are restructuring the Abuja Securities and Exchange Commission
and when that is completed, that will increase the price which farmers
get for their goods from 35 per cent to close to 50 per cent, as it is
done in Ethiopia.
"This process will also help to create more jobs in terms of the
Warehouse Receipt System which we are trying to introduce,” Aganga said.
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