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.
 
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