Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/buhari-begs-nigerians-support-cooperation-ministers-gear-fight-recession/
ABUJA—Alarmed by the
dwindling fortunes of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday,
brainstormed with his key ministers and financial experts from the
public and private sectors, to find ways of fixing the troubled economy.
The President, who has repeatedly assured Nigerians of his resolve to
turn around the economy, has come under immense pressure to take
far-reaching measures to quicken the recovery of the economy.
The retreat, which was packaged by the Budget and National Planning
Ministry, in conjunction with the Finance Ministry, is seen as one of
the early steps to proffer solutions to the beleaguered economy and
prioritise areas for the 2017 budget.
The retreat had as its theme: Building Inter-ministerial Synergy for
Effective Planning and Budgeting in Nigeria.
Declaring open the retreat, President Buhari said the nation required
what he called ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking to get out of the economic
doldrums.
Buhari said: “The challenges we face in the current recession require
‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, to deploy strategies that involve engaging
meaningfully with the private sector to raise the level of private
sector investment in the economy as a whole.
“We are confident that the level of private investment will grow as we
are determined to make it easier to do business in Nigeria by the
reforms we are introducing under the auspices of the Presidential
Committee on Ease of Doing Business.”
CABINET RETREAT—From left: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; President
Muhammadu Buhari; National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udoma and
Minister for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, at the 2016 Cabinet Retreat on
the economy at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa,
Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
CABINET RETREAT—From left: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; President
Muhammadu Buhari; National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udoma and
Minister for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, at the 2016 Cabinet Retreat on
the economy at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa,
Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
Determination
He stressed the determination of the government to explore possible ways
of turning the current challenges into opportunities for the country,
especially the nation’s vibrant youths on whose shoulders lie the future
of the nation.
“This is why we have embarked on measures and actions that will open up
the opportunities we have seen in the power, housing, agriculture,
mining, trade and investment; Information Communication Technology, ICT,
tourism, transport and other sectors.
“I wish to reassure the teeming youths that this government would remain
steadfast in its effort to ensure greater progress and prosperity for
you. While government is taking the lead in the task of repositioning
our economy for change, we cannot achieve this completely by ourselves.
“We will need, and we ask for the support and cooperation of the private
sector, domestic and foreign, state and local governments, the National
Assembly and the Judiciary as well as all well-meaning Nigerians in
this important task. We are confident that working together, we shall
succeed,” Buhari assured.
Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma,
explained that the retreat was timely as it was deliberately arranged as
part of government’s preparations for the 2017 budget, apparently to
avoid the problems noticed in the previous budgets.
Udoma said: “We want to make sure that as a cabinet, we have synergy and
we look at the priorities for the government for the 2017 budget and
make sure that in the light of the current economic situation, the
budget is well structured to take us back on the path of growth.”
The minister said with proper synergy between the ministers and their
respective agencies, it would be possible for the cabinet to speak with
one voice regarding the 2017 budget.
Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, expressed government’s sympathy
with Nigerians over the down turn in the economy but was quick to add
that the administration was more serious in its intention and resolve to
turn it around.
Adeosun said it was obvious, from the beginning, that the nation would
run into economic crisis due to plummeting revenue.
She said: “We sympathise with the people of Nigeria but what is more
serious is our intentions, our resolve and plans to turn it around. We
had said it before that we knew we were going to go into a very
difficult period.
“We have not anticipated the impact of the much awaited crisis, which of
course is built on our revenue that is down significantly.
“We have a credible plan and that plan is based on the need to invest in
our infrastructure and each of the experts spoke on that, saying
clearly that it was the only solution for Nigeria to take us out of this
situation and we are working on that.”
Syndicate groups
The retreat later broke into six syndicate groups, with ministers and
permanent secretaries divided among the groups to examine the economy
and suggest the way forward.
From left, Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi;
Information Minister, Lai Mohammed and the Minister for Petroleum
Resources, Ibe Kachiukwu during the 2016 Cabinet Retreat on the Economy
at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Photo
by Abayomi Adeshida 15/09/2016
From left, Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi;
Information Minister, Lai Mohammed and the Minister for Petroleum
Resources, Ibe Kachiukwu during the 2016 Cabinet Retreat on the Economy
at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Photo
by Abayomi Adeshida 15/09/2016
Papers presented at the retreat include: “Weaning the Nigerian economy
out of oil dependence,” by Dr Obadiah Mailafia; “Fiscal and Trade Policy
options to get the economy out of recession,” by Dr Ayo Teriba;
“Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy options to get the economy out of
recession,” by Mr. Bismarck Rewane and “How to grow output and
productivity in the real sector,” by Mr. Bode Agusto.
According to documents from the Budget Ministry, the key expectations of
the 2017 budget will focus on reviving the economy and will emphasise
on actions to return the country to sustainable growth, keep a cap on
recurrent expenditure and focus on capital expenditure, especially
infrastructure.
According to the document, the ultimate target is the attainment of
strong, inclusive growth.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/buhari-begs-nigerians-support-cooperation-ministers-gear-fight-recession/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/buhari-begs-nigerians-support-cooperation-ministers-gear-fight-recession/
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