The federal government said Thursday that it is working out a stimulus package that would take the country’s economy away from the looming global recession to a positive growth in 2021.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, while fielding questions from State House correspondents at the end of the Economic Sustainability Committee meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
She said the global economy would go into recession in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that is ravaging countries across the world.
She said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prediction that Nigeria would go into a negative growth of 3.4% next year was based on the assessment of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“If we take all these measures that we are planning now, we will be able to by 2021 go back into positive growth. That is why this is very important,” she said.
She said the stimulus package being worked out by the Economic Sustainability Committee, would be approved by President Muhammadu Buhari before it would be made public.
“The president already announced an initial package of N500 billion. So, how that N500 billion would be used and the subsequent intervention, which we will be rolling out, when funds from multi-lateral institutions come in, is what this committee is working on.
“We are looking at various ways and means to support each sector of the economy, providing for each sector clear interventions that would be designed for the primary purpose of creating jobs and ensuring that businesses stay afloat during these difficult times,” she said.
She said the committee would, in the next couple of days, finalize its report and submit it to the president.
