The Nigerian government said on Wednesday that it is yet to decide on the size of loan it would obtain from World Bank to close the funding gap in the 2017 budget.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr. Udoma Udo Udoma at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
“The figure will depend on the (2017) budget approved by the National Assembly. We are waiting for the passage of the budget by the National Assembly so that we will know the budget gap or the actual deficit before we can go to the World Bank for loan.
“Because of the funding constraints, the budget has a deficit, I travelled with the Minister of Finance and CBN governor to market out Eurobond. As you can see, the Eurobond was oversubscribed by over 8 times, so the funds are coming in, there is more stability in th Niger-Delta, so more monies are coming in,” he said.
The minister also told journalists that the council spent hours fine-tuning the Economy Recovery Growth Plan.
“But a lot of inputs were made by council members and it is virtually ready for the President to launch. However, we are doing some fine-tuning and during this period we also do some final consultation before the president launches the plan,” he said.
He said the plan, when approved, would drive economic recovery and lay the foundation for longer term growth as well as improve the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy.
“The goal of the plan is to have an economy with low inflation, stable exchange rate and a diversified inclusive and sustaining growth. The proposed initiatives outlined in the plan are designed to address the country’s poor competitiveness, improve business environment and attract investment and infrastructure, especially power, roads, rails and ports,” he said.
