he Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeousn, has assured Nigerians that the current economic recession the nation was experiencing will not be prolonged.
She gave the assurance on Friday in Abuja while addressing a news conference.
She said that there was a strategic plan by the administration to see that the recession ended soon and also ensure that the economy recovered fully.
She said, “We have a strategic plan that will take us out of the recession we have found ourselves in; we want to make sure the recession is as short as possible because we do not want a prolonged recession.
“From what we are looking at we do not think that it will be a prolonged recession; we think that some of the initiatives that we are working on will now begin to bear fruits.
“We are on course and are confident that the plan we have put together will work and put the economy back on track.
“It is a long term plan that would reposition the economy so that we do not go into this boom and burst circles that are driven by the oil price.
“The economy has to be more resilient than that so that we do not find ourselves back where we are.’’
She said that measures put in place by the FG showed was that the end of the recession had begun and Nigeria would come out stronger.
Listing some of the measures the administration had taken to address the situation, she said that since the budget was released in May, over N420 billion had been released and cash backed for capital projects.
She said that the largest sector that the money was spent on was Power, Works and Housing.
She also said that a lot had been done in the defence sector to rebuild the capability of the army, especially on efforts in the North East.
She said, “Agriculture has received significant funding because of the time sensitivity of agriculture and because of the fact that food prices were rising, we needed to intervene so that we could get food prices down.
“There is activity resuming on roads, power projects and health projects and we have released money to water resources and solid minerals.’’
Adeosun also said that there was a cash plan to release another N350 billion which would go into the various MDAs.
“The focus is going to be similar, however, there would also be funding of about N60 billion for the Special Intervention Programme and that is very important in putting money into people’s pockets.
“The school feeding programme and the N-Power teachers corps we will cash back today as part of the N350 billion additional release which would take our total capital spending to about N700 billion.”
She also said that N50 billion was set monthly as budget support plan for some state governments from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee to support them with additional money to enable them to pay salaries.
She said that the loan had been on for three months for the interested states because some states which were buoyant decided not to participate.
On recovery of assets, Adeosun said that the committee was in the process of collating with the non-cash assets like farmlands, vehicles and houses and that a fixed asset register would soon be opened to determine their value.
She said that the jewelries were from different locations and were being brought together to determine the market value and that the next line of action would be decided by the committee.
Adeosun explained that the present recruitment by the police and some other government agencies were made possible by the reduction of ghost workers.
She added that the savings that were made from the exercise would enable funding for the new recruitment.
“Sometime in January, personnel cost was N165 billion along with pension cost, but so far so good; we have reduced, through the removal of about 40,000 ghost workers, the personnel cost by around N10 billion per month.
“Now we have saved about N100 billion this year.’’
She said that though the times were tough, there was hope for Nigerians, adding that issues around infrastructure were the biggest problems of Nigeria which resulted in high cost of living.
“The biggest problem we have is not wages but the cost of living which is too high so it is not how much money you have but it is what it costs you to live.
“The problem we have is that many of the things that people are spending money on are the things government should be doing like roads, power and so on.
“So we have to address these things because that is what will really make impact for the average working Nigerian and so when you address the infrastructure you address the cost of living and that is what this government is working on.’’
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I'm expecting convincing fomular with timeline on how to achieve more with respect to the economy but non. There's no concrete plan with timeline on how to achieve economic growth. Wahala dey ooo, no workable plans available. Only God can help Nigeria
ReplyDeleteBut you once said that recession is just a word. The fact is that you do not truly know what recession is to people. There's a saying that a problem known is half-solved. You are still very far from providing solution to the reality of economic hardship in the country now. All the solutions you have mentioned above are not what is required to end recession. A good way to start is to reverse the treasury single account(TSA). You have mopped up several trillions from monetary circulation. By this act, individuals, SMEs and macro companies can not access money to trade with. Businesses and companies have closed down. Jobs have been lost in millions. So reverse TSA and put money on circulation while you simply watch over the accounts to guide against corruption
ReplyDeleteVery good initiative. If everything she said goes as planned, then there is hope for APC come 2019, if not, then go get issue
ReplyDeleteWith respect you very naive and your type of being gives comfort to the incompetent or corrupt. You are a typical nigerian and why we are in this mess.
DeleteWhat a pile of sh*t. Are we still on that ghost workers nonsense from last year?
ReplyDelete"Agriculture has received significant funding"... really? How much na? What was the entire budget for agriculture again? Insignificant.
"We have saved 100 billion this year" on just the ghost workers abi? And spent how much extra on govt "feeding" and other expenditures? Uncountable. And on top of that you "recruited" more to replace the ghost workers. Where is the saving in that?
A fixed asset register does not determine value of any asset. Nonsense.
This govt is just a joke. Where are the economic policy adjustments and focus plan to help pull us out of this govt mass? This cow is busy talking about jewelries and farmlands. Land?? Idiot!
Myopic, small-thinking buffoons.
Enter your comment...d only thing in dat her block head is English.... I don't blame her but d useless goat called Buhari
ReplyDeleteEnter your comment...d only thing in dat her block head is English.... I don't blame her but d useless goat called Buhari
ReplyDeleteHon. Minister take a closer look at the forex policies which has led to massive capital flight. A British prospective investor recently told me that investing in the present Nigerian economy is like entering the famous "hotel California " as depicted in the song of that name by the musical band Eagles. You are welcome as a guest but you are never ever allowed to leave. Make it easy for people to be able to repatriate their profits and capital and watch the investors rush in droves. For after all Nigerian stocks are now peanuts but they yield greater than most stocks.
ReplyDelete