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Tag: Udoma Udo Udoma

  • Nigeria’s economy will be better in 2018 – Udoma

    Nigeria’s economy will be better in 2018 – Udoma

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, has assured Nigerians that the economy would be better in 2018.

    Udoma gave the assurance in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr. Akpandem James, in Abuja.

    The minister spoke at an economic forum organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Kings Court Parish, Lagos, on Sunday.

    He said the economy would significantly be better in 2018 going by the consistent positive trend of key indicators since the country emerged from recession in the second quarter of 2017.

    He said international and local rating agencies had shared same view that the Nigerian economy would grow rapidly in the year.

    Udoma said the growth would create opportunities for investment in agriculture and agro-processing, industry, mining, construction and services.

    The minister, however, assured that the Federal Government would continue to sustain the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

    “The government is determined to lead in that effort and appealed to the private sector to respond to the various initiatives which the government has been rolling out.

    “There is no doubt that more work needs to be done and we all must work together to achieve sustainable results,” he stated.

    Udoma said the ERGP was designed to tackle constraints to growth, leverage the power of the private sector, promote national cohesion and social inclusion, allow markets to function and uphold our core values.

  • Nigeria economy will be better in 2018 – Udoma

    Nigeria economy will be better in 2018 – Udoma

    Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning has assured Nigerians that the economy would be better in 2018.

    Udoma gave the assurance in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr Akpandem James in Abuja.

    Udoma spoke at an economic forum organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Kings Court Parish in Lagos on Sunday.

    The minister said the economy would significantly be better in 2018 going by the consistent positive trend of key indicators since the country emerged from recession in the second quarter of 2017.

    He said international and local rating agencies had shared same view that the Nigerian economy would grow rapidly in the year.

    Udoma said the growth would create opportunities for investment in areas such as agriculture and agro-processing, industry, mining, construction and services.

    Read also: Udoma says labour matters high on FG’s priority matters

    The minister, however, assured that the Federal Government would continue to sustain the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

    “The government is determined to lead in that effort and appealed to the private sector to respond to the various initiatives which the government has been rolling out.

    “There is no doubt that more work needs to be done and we all must work together to achieve sustainable results.”

    Udoma said the ERGP was designed to tackle constraints to growth, leverage the power of the private sector, promote national cohesion and social inclusion, allow markets to function and uphold our core values.

    In addition, he said the ministry had set up implementation unit to drive results in the implementation of the ERGP and to monitor the implementation of critical initiatives.

    Udoma said the ministry would soon organise laboratories in the critical areas of Agriculture and Transportation, Power and Gas as well as Manufacturing and Processing.

    He said laboratories which would commence fully in the next few weeks would bring all the relevant stakeholders (public and private) into weeks of intensive working sessions.

    According to him, the aim is to brainstorm on practical steps to overcoming identified challenges in the sectors.

    Udoma, however, urged Nigerians to stop putting the country down through lack of confidence in the achievements of the government.

    “Nigerians should develop confidence in our ability to take on challenges and the capacity to achieve positive results.

    “This country has great potential, both material and human, but we need to harness these potential for the growth of the country and the benefit of our people,” he said.

    Also, the Senior Pastor of the Kings Court Parish of the RCCG, Pastor Ben Akabueze, said he was very expectant of 2018 as all economic indicators showed that the year would be better than 2017.

    Akabueze, who is also the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, said the Kings Court had been organising such economic fora annually.

    He said the Church had a duty to get the people to understand the marketplace and to approach the market with understanding and wisdom.

    NAN

  • Udoma says labour matters high on FG’s priority matters

    Udoma says labour matters high on FG’s priority matters

    Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, says labour matters command high priority in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The information is in a statement signed by the minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Mr Akpandem James, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    James stated that Udoma made the remark when he received a team from International Labour Organisation (ILO) led by Ms Cynthia Samuel-Olajuwon, the ILO Assistant Director and Regional Director for Africa.

    He added that the team’s visit was to brief Udoma on the implications of the just released World Social Protection Report to Nigeria, as well as intimate him about the centenary celebration of the organisation planned for 2019.

    He quoted the minister as saying “Federal Government attached high premium to labour issues, especially human capital development, as stated in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

    “Investing in people is one of the three broad objectives of the plan.

    “ERGP is an ambitious four-year plan developed to dramatically turn around the economic fortunes of the country.

    “It is aimed at increasing the productivity of the Nigerian economy by improving on human capacity, as well as encourage private sector investment.”

    Read also: 2017 Budget: recurrent expenditure releases hit N4.24trn – Udoma

    The minister explained that the objectives of the plan were to restore growth, invest in the people and build a globally competitive economy.

    Udoma said government was determined to pursue its human capital investment efforts through social inclusion, job creation and youth empowerment, as well as improved human capacity.

    The minister added that Nigeria would draw from the expertise of the ILO on labour matters, noting that the country had been active in the organisation’s programmes as exemplified by the level of representation in the global body.

    He thanked the organisation for choosing Nigeria as one of the 10 countries in the world where the Global Social Protection Report was launched.

    He assured the organisation of Federal Government ‘s support, saying “ you can count on our continuing support and strong collaboration.”

    Earlier, Samuel-Olajuwon had told the minister that Nigeria was chosen as one of the countries to launch the organisation’s global report because of its importance to ILO globally and Africa in particular.

    The report was launched in Abuja on December 12, 2017.

    She said apart from the fact that Nigeria had strong representation at ILO, noting that it was the first country in Africa where the world body’s office was established.

    The official said the organisation’s collaboration with Nigeria was anchored on Medium Term Framework which emphasised issues of employment, social protection and labour market governance issues, among others.

    NAN

  • FG approves N800m as budget support loan facility for states

    FG approves N800m as budget support loan facility for states

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of N800 million for each of the 36 states of the federation as part of the Budget Support Loan Facility.

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo udoma, stated this when he briefed State House correspondents, alongside Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, on the outcome of the meeting of the National Economic Council ( NEC ) in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

    Udoma said the Accountant General of the Federation reported to the Council that approval for the payment of the amount had been received by his office and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had been directed to pay the money to the states.

    “Governors expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the restoration of the Budget Support Loan Facility for July and August 2017,’’ he said.

    He said the Accountant General also informed the Council that the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at Nov. 17 stood at $2,309,693,583.35

    He said the Council was also updated on the balance of the Stabilisation Fund Account (SFA), which, as at Nov. 17 stood at N6,689,072,836.11

    The minister said the balance of the Natural Resources Development Fund Account stood at N100, 314, 169, 190,23 as at Nov. 17.

    Akeredolu told the correspondents that the Council received the Report of the NEC hoc Committee on Export Promotion.

    The committee was set up in September.

    “The report dwelt extensively on an export promotion plan geared towards achieving governments’ policy on the “zero oil Plan.

    “The Committee recommended, among other things, the establishment of a National Committee on Export Promotion, chaired at the Presidency level.

    “It also recommended the setting up of a  Technical Committee involving federal and states MDAs to help provide technical information and direction to the proposed committee.

    “The Ad-hoc Committee further  recommended that Export procedures and documentation be streamlined with  the identification of existing domestic investors and engagement plan for output expansion.

    He said the committee also recommended the establishment of more laboratories and testing centres to help improve quality and standard of export and the domestication of the Office of Technical Regulation (OTR) as recommended by UNIDO.

    On market for Nigeria’s products, he said the committee recommended the deepening of commercial diplomacy, one-stop shops for export and a National Export Portal to generate global orders to link suppliers to buyers

    “On Value Chain Development, the Committee recommended the development of clusters along product value chain, market driven research and development and the provision of seeds and seedlings.

    “The committee recommended the recapitalization of NEXlM Bank, the provision of Export Development Fund in line with NEPC Act, a five-year financial window on export expansion grant and funding scheme for exporters similar to the CBN Anchor Borrowers programme.

    NAN

  • 2017 budget: FG, Senate clash over capital vote

    2017 budget: FG, Senate clash over capital vote

    The Senate on Tuesday disagreed with the Federal Government over plans to release an insignificant fraction of the N2.177 trillion capital vote in the 2017 budget.

    This followed a revelation by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, that the government could only release N440 billion out of the total amount.

    Adeosun, who was joined by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, told the senators during an interactive session that the government lacked adequate funding for the budget.

    The ministers said government intends to release over N100 billion this week, in addition to the N310 billion earlier released in the 2017 budget.

    According to the ministers, it would be extremely difficult for the government to meet obligations in capital budget, pointing out that there was N2.3 trillion deficit in the 2017 capital budget.

    Adeosun said the 2017 budget was projected mainly on external borrowing, adding that making further capital releases would depend on how fast the government could push the borrowing process.

    She informed the lawmakers that domestic borrowing would not be enough to fund the gaps in the budget, stressing that the cost of domestic borrowing was getting too high.

    She said borrowing from foreign sources was far cheaper than domestic borrowing.

    She said even if the funds were to be available, government cannot release the entire N2.177 trillion capital vote within the three months left in the year.

    Consequently, the ministers said about 60 percent of the 2017 capital budget would be rolled over to the 2018 budget, just as that of 2016 was similarly rolled over till May this year.

    Worried by the huge gap in the capital budget and the actual amount to be released, the senators warned that the trend could cause serious injury to the economy.

    The senators drew a parallel between Nigeria and Brazil in the handling of economic recession in the two countries.

    The Brazilian economy had suffered recession for eight consecutive quarters but came out of it with 2.46 inflation rate and 10 percent misery rate.

    The lawmakers had challenged the two ministers to explain why the Nigerian economy, which suffered recession for five consecutive quarters would come out with 16.5 percent inflation rate and over 50 percent misery rate.

     

  • 2018 budget to be ready in January- Udoma

    2018 budget to be ready in January- Udoma

    Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, says the ministry is working hard to ensure that the 2018 budget proposal will be sent to the National Assembly in January.

    Udoma, represented by Mr Aso Vakporoye, Deputy Director, Economic Growth in the ministry, spoke in Abuja on Wednesday during the public presentation and capacity building on 2017 agriculture budget.

    “For 2018, the Federal Government part of it has been concluded with hope that it will be submitted to the National Assembly in January.

    “Government is putting more effort to address the issue of dry season farming because when the budget is passed on time, it will enable it provide funds for farmers promptly,’’ he said.

    Udoma said with the effort of relevant stakeholders, the issue of late passage of budget would be addressed.

    Mr Ken Ukaoha, President, National Association of Nigeria Traders (NANTS), said that the agricultural sector presently contributed more than 22 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

    Ukaoha, represented by Mr Nwalabu Legborsi, Head of Legal of NANTS, said investment in the agricultural sector had the greatest potential to move a good number of people from poverty compared to other sectors.

    “In the recent times, emphasis has been laid on the diversification of the economy, especially the agricultural sector, which employs a greater number of the country’s population.

    “Some initiatives, such as consuming `Made in Nigeria’ products, have also been promoted as way to encourage domestic production of agricultural goods for the country,’’ he said.

    Ukaoha said the association would engage government to improve the quantity and quality of investment in the agriculture sector through the instrumentality of the budget.

    According to him, stakeholders input have somewhat changed the pattern of cut and paste budgeting in the country.

    “Through analysis of the Federal Agricultural budgets, especially with Ministry of Agriculture as the major focus, obvious savings have been made through the slashing of frivolous budgeted funds when the previous and preceding years appropriations are compared,’’ he said.

    Ukaoha said that the agricultural sector was underfunded when compared with other countries of similar socioeconomic status.

    He said the meeting would x-ray the 2017 agricultural budget and how it affected the rural small scale framers who were the major producers of the food products.

    Mr Tunde Jimoh, the Budget Research Consultant of the association, said Nigeria was a net importer of foods and its farmers could not compete with their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

    Jimoh said agriculture was the least funded when compared with other sectors.

    He said the country needed to adopt new technologies  to produce more food and review the funding for agriculture.

    Jimoh said that most states had not embraced the idea of open budget system.

    According to him, Open Budget Initiative is a global research and advocacy programme to promote public access to budget information and the adoption of accountable budget systems. (NAN)

  • ERGP: Nigerian Economic Summit begins October

    ERGP: Nigerian Economic Summit begins October

    The 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES23) will hold from October 10 to 12 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

    It will focus on how to grow the economy through the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) mandate.

    Speaking ahead of the summit, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, said the  Federal Government would implement measures toward realising a growth target of seven per cent by 2020.

    Udoma said: “The implementation of the Economic Recovery Growth Plan, ERGP is critical to achieving the ambitious goals of this government to diversify the economy and attain a growth rate of seven per cent by 2020.”

    He said the summit would elicit and adopt a solution-based approach in addressing the issues that will expand opportunities, tackle unemployment and improve productivity.

    “This is in line with the aspirations of the ERGP which aims at restoring and sustaining growth, investing in our people, and building a globally competitive economy. The theme is also significant, given the need to sustain the imperatives of the “Made-in-Nigeria” agenda from NES#22.

    ‘’This is expected to enhance the effective implementation of ERGP and also translate to improvement in living standards of the citizen,” he said.

    The theme of the summit is: “Opportunities, productivity & employment: Actualising the Economic Recovery & Growth Plan”.

    According to Udoma, the summit is also significant, given the need to sustain the imperatives of the “Made-in-Nigeria” agenda from NES#22.

    Last year, NES#22 focused on “Made-in-Nigeria” with the aim of getting stakeholders’ commitment to the structural and fiscal changes required to diversify the Nigerian economy by placing much-needed emphasis on Made-in-Nigeria goods and services.

    “It has become an annual dialogue and indeed the flagship event of the NESG providing a credible and widely recognised platform for top policymakers and corporate leaders,” he said.

  • FG seeks private sector investment from UK

    FG seeks private sector investment from UK

    The Federal Government on Thursday said it would work with government of the United Kingdom to stimulate more direct private sector investments into Nigeria.

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma said this in Abuja during a meeting with a delegation from the British government led by the Secretary of State for International Development, Mrs Priti Patel.

    He told the delegation that Federal Government was intensifying efforts at ensuring the ease of doing business in the country and would welcome more foreign investments.

    Patel and her team are in Nigeria to have an on-the-spot appraisal of the situation in the North East of the country to enable the British Government to decide on how to assist the Nigerian government in addressing the situation in the region, as well as other development initiatives.

    Acknowledging the various interventions by the British Government in aid of the country’s developmental challenges, the minister said although Nigeria would appreciate more foreign aid from the British Government, it would be looking more in the area of investments from companies in that country coming into Nigeria.

    He explained government’s efforts toward ensuring the ease of doing business and particularly mentioned the creation of industrial hubs in the six geo-political zones of the country that would have the basic facilities required for manufacturing to thrive smoothly.

    The British government, he said, could help in encouraging manufacturers in the United Kingdom to outsource some of their productions to Nigeria and take advantage of the special economic zones.

    The minister said that the Federal Government was committed to creating a successful economy, pointing out that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan launched early this year was meant to serve as vehicle to drive government’s diversification policy.

    Udoma said Federal Government had constituted an Inter-ministerial Task Force under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning to properly handle and coordinate humanitarian assistance efforts to the North East.

    This, he noted, was to ensure proper delivery and effective utilisation of funds and materials.

    In her comments, Patel assured that the British Government would continue to assist Nigeria in addressing its humanitarian and developmental challenges.

    She said her team would discuss further with the Federal Government to look at more proactive ways of dealing with the fallouts of the North East crisis.

    She added that more work would be done in the areas of investment in education, international partnerships, capacity building, scaling up of farming in local communities among, other development issues.

  • Ministers, CBN governor brief Buhari on economy

    Ministers, CBN governor brief Buhari on economy

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday received briefings from some ministers and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefuele, on the state of the economy.

    Buhari, who was in the United Kingdom for 103 days on medical vacation, expressed delight at the improving economy.

    The ministers, who briefed the President, included the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma and the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

    A statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, reads: “For almost two hours, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday received briefing from the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, after which a delighted President declared that he was pleased with the progress being made on different fronts.”

    According to him, the ministers and CBN Governor updated the President on the improving state of the economy, implementation of the 2017 Budget, preparation for the 2018 Budget, revenue strategies, combined cost reduction and debt management.

    They also discussed monetary policy strategies and their economic impact, among others.

    President Buhari, while reminding the ministers and CBN Governor that reviving the economy was one of the major planks on which the campaign of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was based, expressed gladness that things were looking up after two years of yeoman’s job.

     

     

  • FEC okays 2018 – 2020 MTEF

    FEC okays 2018 – 2020 MTEF

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday approved the 2018 to 2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was with three other ministers – Lai Mohammed (Information), Kemi Adeosun (Finance) and Adebayo Shittu (Communication) – at the briefing.

    Udoma said the Federal Government aims to grow the economy by 7 per cent by 2020.

    He said the government targets to grow the economy by 3.5 per cent by 2018 and 4.5 per cent by 2019.

    According to him, the federal government has been consulting with state governors and other stakeholders over the MTEF.

    He said: “Council today approved a memorandum that was submitted by my ministry and approved the 2018-2020 MTEF, as we know we have been having extensive consultation in the last few weeks with the governors, members of the public and the leadership of the National Assembly about the MTEF.

    “So we submitted it and was approved by council. The highlight of it is that we are committed to achieving a 7 per cent growth rate by 2020 at the end of the three year plan in accordance with the economic recovery and growth plan.

    “MTEF is based on the economic recovery and growth plan and in terms of the trajectory of getting the 7 per cent, we have approved a slightly different trajectory in the sense that by next year we target 3.5 per cent in 2018, in 2019 it will be 4.5 per cent growth rate and of course in 2020 it will be 7 per cent growth rate.

    “In terms of crude oil production, our estimate projection for next year is 2.3 million barrels per day. We expect it to be broken down to 1.8 million barrels per day for regular crude and 500 thousand barrels per day in terms of condensate.”