FG to reposition economy with N2.3tn, says Adesina

Special Adviser to the President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has said that the Federal Government will spend N2.3 trillion to reposition the nation’s economy as part of the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan to cushion the effects of COVID-19.

Adesina, according to a statement on Sunday, said this in a presentation at the 2nd Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Islamic University Malaysia Alumni Association, Nigeria chapter, held on Saturday.

Adesina said the NESP comprised N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund meant to upgrade health facilities nationwide and finance a national Special Public Works Programme; N1.1 trillion structured lending from the Central Bank of Nigeria; N334 billion to be derived from external bilateral and multilateral sources; and N302.9 billion from other undisclosed sources.

“The 12-month ‘transit’ scheme under the NESP was developed as a successor plan to the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. When compared to other world economies, the Nigerian economy was not as badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, contrary to doomsday projections that had earlier come from the West,” the statement quoted Adesina as saying.

The presidential spokesman urged states and local governments to complement the efforts of the Federal Government to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on the people.

The keynote speaker at the event and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Derby, United Kingdom, Prof. Kamil Omoteso, who spoke on ‘Repositioning the Nigerian economy in the COVID-19 era and beyond: The role of Diasporans’, said the country needed to properly harness the potential of its Diaspora population.