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Tag: Dr Shamsuddeen Usman

  • Petroleum subsidy not benefitting the poor, says Shamsuddeen

    A former Minister of Finance Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman has said the petroleum subsidy regime of the Federal Government is not benefitting those it is intended for.

    He stated this while delivering the 8th convocation lecture at the National Open University of Nigeria with the theme: “Education as a public good – The role of NOUN in promoting entrepreneurship and economic independence.”

    The former minister said the subsidy was going most to people who had three, four and five cars.

    He identified the petroleum and fertiliser subsidies as two policies of the federal government that are not working.

    He said: “But really, who is benefitting from this subsidy? The subsidy is going most to people who have three, four and five cars.

    ‘’So it is actually not going to those that it is intended for plus all the other economic distortion that it leads to.

    “Some of us were old enough. Remember the days called essential commodities in Nigeria and people used to line up at government stores to collect stupidly, five bags of salt.

    “A typical family will probably not use one bag of salt in a year but because it was government providing, people queue up, they collect five bags of salt and of course it is to go outside and sell to some other people and make money. So those kinds of things really don’t make any sense.

    “The fertiliser subsidy is another one. I am not going to mention names so that I am not regarded as criticising this government.”

    Shamsuddeen, who is also the Chairman of Susman and Associates, described NOUN’s entrepreneurship programme as a common good for economic independence in Nigeria.

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    According to him, economic independence is a situation where a society or macro economy has a high degree of division of labor, where people depend on each other to produce most of the goods and services required to sustain life and living.

    He said: “A good commodity is non-rival if its consumption by one individual in a society does not reduce the amount available for others.

    “Traditionally, some economists have then taken a leap from establishing that market exchange will not produce socially optimal output of the public good.

    “There is some evidence that the provision of by the government is, itself, not a silver bullet and is prone to the creation of many other problems.

    “NOUN and its entrepreneur programme can be viewed as common good for economic independence in Nigeria due to the number of positive externalities they exhibit,” he stated.

    The convocation lecturer also described education as a public good that promoted respect for life, human dignity and social justice in the society.

    Shamsuddeen, who was also a one- time minister of National Planning, said the Open University model was providing education more generally at an adult level for people who did not have the opportunity to attend regular university.

  • GDP rebasing’ll boost economy, says minister

    GDP rebasing’ll boost economy, says minister

    Stakeholders involved in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rebasing exercise must ensure that the figures they get at the end of the exercise are the true reflection of the economy, the Minister/Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, has said.

    Usman, who gave the advice during a two-day Sensitisation Workshop on Nigeria’s GDP Rebasing Exercise in Abuja, noted that this was the only way to ensure sustainable economic development.

    He said the GDP measures the value of the total economic output at a particular period of time, and remains the single most universally accepted measure of economic output for international comparison.

    He maintained that the attainment of the nation’s Vision 20:2020, is dependent on the availability of reliable GDP estimates.

    He said: “It is critically important that the nation’s GDP estimates are accurate as possible, adequately capturing historical changes and developments over time, appropriately depicting the present realities and sufficient enough to serve as basis for future projections.”

    The Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, said that the tentative figures of the rebased GDP will be released in December upon completion of the nine scheduled surveys, while the final figures would be announced next year at the end of the two major censuses planned as part of the rebasing exercise

    He restated the strategic importance of the project to national development, and canvassed stakeholders’ support for the exercise as an option for the realisation of the broad policy objectives of the Transformation Agenda, as well as those of the broader Vision 20:2020.

    Kale, who spoke elaborately on various initiatives by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to improve the quality of the Nigerian statistical system, described the GDP rebasing project as coming at an auspicious time after over 23 years of the last exercise, designed to help in updating Nigeria’s GDP in a way that would reflect the accurate value added of the production of goods and services in all sectors.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Senior Country Representative in Nigeria, Scott Rogers, said the effort to rebase the GDP, would help Nigeria’s efforts being targeted at using reliable and timely statistical data as economic tool for effective planning, and implementing of governments’ policies at national and sub-national levels.

    Commending the NBS for the initiative, the IMF chief was optimistic that the successful completion of the exercise would improve Nigeria’s ratings in terms of her economic capacity and opportunities.

  • N452t infrastructure funds from capital market coming

    N452t infrastructure funds from capital market coming

    The Federal Government will source the largest chunk of about N452trillion required for various infrastructure projects under its long-term development plan from the capital market.

    Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, who disclosed this yesterday at an infrastructure roundtable organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said government will turn to the capital market to source the estimated $2.9 trillion required for Nigeria’s infrastructure development over the next three decades.

    He said government will require an average of $25 billion per annum from 2014-2018, compared to between $9 billion and $10 billion currently being spent.

    Government will have to aggressively increase core infrastructure stock from 35 to 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2012 to 70 per cent by 2043 in order to close the current infrastructure gap and reach desired optimal investment, he said, adding that the recourse to the capital market, was due to inadequacy of budgetary resources in view of the large financing requirements for infrastructure developments.

    Usman said government will have to source funds from the private sector, noting that recent privatisation trends demonstrated that the private sector can take about 48 per cent share.

    He said the private sector investment requirement is projected to increase from 46 per cent, to 48 per cent during the first operational plan, 2014-2018, while public sector investment is projected at 52 per cent, adding that only about 15 per cent of public sector funding is projected to be from the treasury, while the balance of 85 per cent will be sourced through the bond market.

    Also speaking, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, said the infrastructural development plan is part of the long-term plan for stimulating Nigeria’s economic growth, and launching the country onto a path of sustained and rapid socio-economic development.

    He outlined that the development plan serves as a capital allocation framework, which identifies the required investments to bring infrastructure in Nigeria in line with the country’s long term growth aspirations.

    “It is a medium-term economic transformation agenda for realising the Federal Government’s economic growth agenda for 2011 -2015,” he added.

    Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh, said the Commission has been working to develop the domestic bond market, by enhancing the framework for bond issuance, developing rules on book building and shelf registration.

  • New infrastructure Master-Plan to cost N2.9tr

    New infrastructure Master-Plan to cost N2.9tr

    The implementation of the new blueprint on infrastructure – Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP), would cost $2.9 trillion, the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, has said.

    Usman, who spoke at a dinner organised by the Business Support Group (BSG), explained that the Master Plan had been designed to raise the nation’s stock of infrastructure from the current 35-40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to 70 per cent of GDP in the next 30 years.

    He said the plan envisaged that 48 per cent of the $2.9 billion would come from the private sector.

    The NIIMP is a 30-year one, designed to accelerate infrastructure development in the country, he said, adding that its focus is on core infrastructure, including energy (power and oil & gas), transport (roads, rail, ports and airports), housing, water and information communications technology (ICT).

    Other infrastructure classes include agriculture, mining, social infrastructure, vital registration and security, he said.

    Usman said the draft NIIMP contained a long-term vision that set the overall direction for the master plan and strategic objectives, such as per capita income and GDP growth, adding that it also described the overall investments required in infrastructure, over the next 30 years, and the requisite financing plan and sector and regional strategies, as well as a priority projects portfolio. As an actionable plan, the NIIMP also highlighted enablers for implementation and an implementation plan.

    Usman pointed out that the huge investment requirement of the NIIMP, imposed on the Federal Government the task of exploreing various financing options, adding that the private sector would be expected to play a more significant role in financing infrastructure development.

    He added that the great potential for private sector participation placed additional responsibility on the public sector.

    “Given the global nature of infrastructure investment, it implies we have to compete. To compete, we have to strengthen the policy, legal and institutional frameworks for effective infrastructure development as well as improve security. It will also require fiscal incentives and capability building for the management of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

  • Infrastructure master plan execution begins next year, says Minister

    Infrastructure master plan execution begins next year, says Minister

    The implementation of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan that would help to tackle unnecessary duplication of infrastructure among the three tiers of government would commence next year.

    Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman said this in Abuja yesterday while presenting a mid-term report on the performance of his ministry. He said the master plan would also form the basis for the preparation of the 2014 budget.

    President Goodluck Jonathan had in July 2012, approved that the National Planning Commission coordinates the preparation of the NIIMP for the country.

    The map will be implemented over a period of 30 years from 2014 – 2043 and will among others, address lack of linkages in the infrastructure sector.

    The minster said: “National Planning Commission is responsible for the development of a 30 year NIIMP 2014 to 2043 and we have been working with all relevant stakeholders including the Development Partners.

    “The final NIIMP document would be ready by August 2013 but an interim NIIMP has been produced to harvest quick win infrastructure projects to feed into the 2014 budget.

    “The NIIMP is a 30 year plan which would be broken up into three ten year strategic plan and six five year operational plan. “The focus we are giving now is for the first five years of that 30 years and therefore it is a lot more detailed would be involved in the five year operational plan.”

    On whether moving the budget office from the ministry of finance to the National Planning ministry would ensure better coordination, Usman said this might not achieve the desired result with the country’s current budget process.

    Within the last two years, Usman said the ministry has been ensuring effective formulation and coordination of national development plans that are in line with international best practices.