The federal government says it will cut down on recurrent expenditure in its 2014 budget by blocking leakages in the economy.

Co-ordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stated this at FBN Capital Third Annual Investors Conference held in Lagos.

Okonjo-Iweala who spoke on the theme, “2014 and beyond: Managing Growth Prospects and Challenges,” noted that the major cause of the distorted current expenditure of the country was the across-the-board increase in salary in 2010.

She said, however, that the federal government has been able to save N120 billion that would otherwise have been paid to ghost workers in the various government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.

The minister said the figure was N20 billion higher the N100 billion earlier discovered by the government in February 2013.

Okonjo-Iweala stressed that government would continue with its fiscal consolidation to increase job creation and provision of the necessary social amenities by promoting the development of infrastructure.

According to her the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, would be rebased to reflect the growth recorded by various sectors of the economy and the GDP growth of 10 per cent would remain government’s target in the years ahead.

Minister of trade and investment, Olusegun Aganga, said that government would maintain investor friendly reforms to encourage foreign direct investment, FDI, in-flows.

Aganga who spoke on the theme, “FDI Flows- Enhancing Nigeria’s Positioning and Competitiveness”, said that government would ensure inclusive growth of all sectors to reduce dependence on oil.

He said that government would concentrate on areas with competitive and comparative advantage to sustain growth, especially in agriculture development.

Aganga said that Nigeria, with its rapid growth and potentials, would be among the world’s best 30 performing economies by 2050.

The conference, tagged: “Tomorrow’s Nigeria Through Economic Empowerment”, is a yearly event of FBN Capital Ltd that explores how economic empowerment can accelerate Nigeria’s development.