The Federal Government will pump about N350 billion ($1.76 billion) into the economy in the forthcoming months, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun has said
She disclosed this to journalists yesterday at the conclusion of the two-day National Economic Council retreat, Adeosun said the money would be paid to contractors to enable them re-engage staff they had laid off.
The minister said the fund would be released after the 2016 national budget was passed in order to stimulate the economy.
“From the Federal Ministry of Finance, in anticipation of the approval of the budget, we’ve virtually lined up about N350 billion which we’ll be pumping into the Nigerian economy in the forthcoming months. We explained our rationale and the processes that we’ve put in place, safeguards, to ensure that this money actually achieves the desired objective which is to stimulate the economy.
“We’re already discussing with some of the contractors who will be paid these monies and the objective from the overall criteria is how many Nigerians would be re-engaged. We’re specifically looking at contractors who have laid off staff and how many Nigerians are you going to put back to work as a result of this money that we’re planning to release and we believe that this would bring significant economic activity”, she said.
She said it was also resolved that there legislative approval be got change the need for counterpart funding for the Universal Basic Education Commission “on the part of state governments which we feel is putting them further into debt, to reduce that requirement from a temporary period to 10% from the current 50%.
“That’ll release an estimated N58bn that is currently un-accessed, and it was discussed that with that money, we could possibly address around 1,000 of the worst classrooms in each of the 36 states and rehabilitate them and of course this would also create jobs and economic activities”.
The chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, said the retreat raised implementation and monitoring committees to work on the resolutions reached. He said the implementation steering committee is chaired Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and comprises Zamfara, Edo, Kwara, Osun, Ebonyi, Jigawa and Bauchi governors as well as Ministers of Budget and National Planning; Finance; Industry, Trade and Investment; Agriculture, Solid Minerals Development; Power, Works and Housing; with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning as Secretary.
He said the monitoring committee is headed by Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Hajia Zainab Ahmed and has as members, the Acting Director-General of the NGF, Benue, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Ogun and Kano Commissioners, among others.
