More reasons on why the economy plunged into recession have emerged. Speaking in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital during a meeting with States Finance Commissioners Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun revealed that one of the key safety nets of every government and economy is taking stocks of debts and liabilities at all times and spending with recourse to them to avoid recession.
She said “We need to take stock, one of the most important things 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.
In a more explanatory manner, the Finance Minister decried that “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”.
According to her, “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.
Adeosun also urged all the State Commissioners for Finance, Accountant-General 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 help the Federal Government.