Wale Edun, minister of finance, says the N2 trillion economic stabilisation plan announced by President Bola Tinubu will prioritise food and energy security.
Edun spoke to journalists after the inauguration of the
presidential economic coordination council (PECC) on Thursday.
He said the council members were presented with the outcomes
of the president’s review of the accelerated stability and advancement plan.
The minister described the plan as an emergency measure set
to span the next six months following the approval of the N2 trillion
intervention package.
He said the package includes N350 billion for health and
social welfare, N500 billion for agriculture and food security, N500 billion
for the energy and power sector, and N650 billion for general business support.
“This is in addition to a range of promising tax measures,
there is a range of Executive Orders which the president’s signed and are been
gazetted to ease the cost of doing business at this particular time,” Edun
said.
“There are a number of funding which will reduce the cost of
interest rate for certain sectors in economy with small and medium scale in
particular but also larger companies there is a line of credit that will allow
them to fall cheaper than the elevated rate.
“This plan is a means
of stabilising the economy and [to] get business growing again.
“We know what has happened since the micro economic measures
which are necessary and have been implemented in a determined and consistent
manner led to elevated cost for industries and for individuals.”
Edun said Tinubu’s focus is on food security, food
production, and nutrition security.
He reaffirmed the president’s commitment to reducing losses
in the crude oil sector and increasing production and sales to 2 million
barrels per day.
In his remarks, Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings,
said the president’s target of producing 2 million barrels of crude oil per day
is achievable, emphasising the need to improve power generation in Nigeria.
‘PRIVATE SECTOR WILL
SUPPORT GOVERNMENT TO CREATE JOBS’
Also speaking, Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries
Limited, pledged the support of the private sector in investing in job creation
for Nigerians.
“The private sector will support the government to invest
heavily and create jobs,” Dangote said.
“Government does not
create jobs but they give us the right policies, you can see the interventions
in gas sector getting the OB3 to work will give the country additional $2
billion.
“What I keep saying is that our own issues are not that bad,
this economy can be turned around within few months and I think we are on that
way.”
In a move to revive Nigeria’s struggling economy, Tinubu
announced a N2 trillion economic stabilisation plan on Thursday.
The plan was unveiled during the inauguration of the PECC.
Established in March, the PECC is chaired by the president
and includes key government officials such as the vice-president, the senate
president, and the chairman of the governors’ forum.
Prominent private sector leaders, including Dangote,
Elumelu, and Bismarck Rewane will serve on the council for one year.
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Finance minister Wake Edun is like his master not having any statistics of the economy in their finger tips but want to do magic. But for favouritism Wale Edun of finance ministry and Dele Alake of solid minerals have no business in this government.
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