The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Economic Recovery and Growth Plan

  • Buhari to inaugurate ERGP Labs Tuesday

    Buhari to inaugurate ERGP Labs Tuesday

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, says the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) Focus Labs would be inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

    The Minister stated this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan is an economic plan that builds on the 2016 Strategic Implementation Plan, meant to tackle corruption, improving security and rebuilding the Nigerian economy.

    The lab is one of the several initiatives by the Federal Government to drive the implementation of the strategic objectives of the ERGP.

    According to the minister, he briefed the Council on the most recent Gross Domestic Product and other related economic performance numbers as released last week by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    He noted during the last quarter of 2017 the economy had continued its positive growth trajectory growing by 1.92%.

    He said: “”This is higher than the previous quarter when it grew by 1.40 per cent and higher still from the second quarter, when it grew by 0.72per cent.

    “”The numbers clearly show that the economy has fully exited recession Council members were particularly pleased to note that this growth is very broad based with Agriculture growing at 4.23 per cent up from 3.06 per cent  in the 3rd Quarter.

    “”Other sectors such as transportation and storage, electricity and gas production, metal ores, and industry all grew.

    Particularly noteworthy were the growth recorded in Trade (2.07per cent and Services (o.10per cent) after six quarters of negative growth.’’

    The minister disclosed that the Council was also happy to note that overall the non-oil sector grew by 1.450 per cent, its strongest since 2015.

    He said inflation was also trending downwards moving down from 18.72 per cent in Jan. 2017 to 15.13per cent in Jan. 2018.

    Udoma also said the Council also expressed satisfaction over the increasing private sector confidence in the ERGP, and other policies and programmes of the Buhari administration, as evidenced by the increasing capital inflows.

    He revealed that capital inflows in 2017 were 12.228 million dollars, a growth of 138.6 per cent over the total inflow in 2016 of 5.124 million dollars.

    According to him, this has been a factor in the build-up of nation’s foreign reserves which have grown from 23.81billion dollars in Sept. 2016 to almost 42 billion dollars.

    He said the Council, however, agreed that whilst these positive results were most encouraging, particularly in the light of where the nation was in the last few years, “the current growth rate was still rather modest.

    “”We have to continue to work even harder to achieve the goals of the ERGP of diversifying the economy and achieving our growth targets of 3.5per cent this year, and 7per cent by 2020.’’(NAN)

  • We’ll do things faithfully in Buhari’s govt, says Osinbajo 

    We’ll do things faithfully in Buhari’s govt, says Osinbajo 

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said that the Buhari administration, in line with its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, would continue to ensure the implementation of policies to drive socio-economic growth and prosperity.

    He made the remark while receiving a delegation from the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Osinbajo in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Laolu Akande, said “I think that no one is in doubt that we have very great policies and we will ensure that these things are implemented and are done as faithfully as possible,”

    He also said that the private sector in Nigeria will continue to play a prominent role in the economic programmes and initiatives of the Buhari administration.

    He noted the significance of private sector investment in the economy, adding that collaboration between the Federal Government and the private sector will further boost the country’s economic progress.

    “If you look at our economic programmes and several other initiatives, the private sector plays a prominent role in them, and that is how it should be. So there is no question that the roles the LCCI and private sector play are critical to the kind of development policies and plan that we have in this government.”

    The Vice President commended the LCCI for its Presidential Policy Dialogues on the economy, which he noted has helped in shaping some initiatives and policies of government.

    Prof. Osinbajo further said that the Buhari administration will continue to have robust engagements and work with the private sector and stakeholders in developing plans for implementation of several economic projects.

    He also pointed out that, in conjunction with the private sector, the Federal Government is resolving the Apapa, Lagos traffic gridlock.

    In his remarks, the leader of the delegation and LCCI President, Mr. Babatunde Ruwase, commended the Buhari administration for its laudable economic initiatives which he said has made Nigeria a more investment friendly destination.

    He said, “We appreciate the series of Executive Orders focused on promoting the ease of doing business in the country. These orders are impacting positively on the business environment and promoting an inclusive economy through the scaling up of the local content in government expenditure.”

  • IMF endorses Nigeria’s economic recovery plan

    IMF endorses Nigeria’s economic recovery plan

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday backed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) released last month by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The ERGP is a blueprint for Nigeria’s economic recovery, growth and sustainable development.

    Speaking at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, the Assistant Director and Head of Fiscal Policy and Surveillance Division of the IMF, Catherine Pattillo, said the ERGP is very acceptable.

    She said the plan focuses on diversification and addressing some of the deep-seated problems related to strengthening structures, economic diversification and building revenues, particularly oil revenue.

    “So, we very much welcome the ERGP. As you are aware Nigeria went into recession last year, there have been forecasted recovery, but the need to address the fiscal situation is urgent. Our recommendation is for the continued fiscal consolidation. One striking statistics I think is the fact that over the past years, the ratio of interest payment to tax revenue has doubled to 66 per cent in Nigeria,” she said.

    According to Pattillo, two-thirds of all tax revenue is going into interest payment, illustrating the need to raise tax revenue to allow government implement the social and growth-friendly policies that are part of the objectives of the ERGP.

    Pattillo said the types of strong fiscal institutions we have talked about are important for governments to ensure that funds flow back to their countries.

    The development of the ERGP went through a rigorous process including wide consultation and robust engagements with stakeholders from a range of relevant fields including economic experts from the public and private sectors, academia, the Organized Private Sector, civil society groups, organized labour, sub-regional governments, international development partners (including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank), the National Economic Council (NEC) and the National Assembly.

    IMF’s Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, Vitor Gaspar, said he was also glad Nigeria is making major moves to strengthen its fiscal policies.

    “I had the privilege of visiting Nigeria some months ago and I was very happy to understand that for the authorities in Nigeria, fiscal policies in general and tax policy, in particular are part of the strategy for development. That is precisely how I believe fiscal policy should be thought in developing countries as part of their development strategy,” he said.