Minister, Zainab Ahmed.
As part of efforts to mitigate the effect of
COVID-19, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning,
Zainab Ahmed, says the Federal Government, is in the process of
acquiring a 750 million dollar loan, from the world bank to help
states.
This loan according to her is to stimulate the local economy and
support vulnerable household consumption.
Mrs. Ahmed disclosed this at the inauguration of the Federal
Steering Committees of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and
Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) program, in the nation’s capital.
The minister noted that the federal government has created
windows of intervention, as captured in the economic sustainability
plan inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari, in March 2020.
She stressed that in going to borrow the money the federal
government is considering the cause and consequences of civil
unrest and COVID-19 in the country.
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“The consequences will be too high if we ignore the root
cause of rising civil unrest in our country. We must, therefore,
fashion out ways of ensuring that post-Covid-19 is not injurious to
the Nigerian people and the economy,”
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Mrs. Ahmed stated.
According to her, in a bid to ensure that the implementation of
the N-CARES is in line with the federal government priorities as
outlined in the ESP, the Federal Steering Committee made up of
ministers and permanent secretaries as well as a Technical
Committee, made up of directors of key ministries, department, and
agencies (MDAs) has to be in place.
The minister stated that the government has carefully selected
the “members of the Federal Steering and Technical Committees
because of the important role MDAs play in the recovery of the
Nigerian economy as well as the fulfillment of lifting 100 million
people out of poverty”.
Speaking on the expediency of the inauguration of the committee,
the Finance Minister said, “the inauguration of the committees
“is expedient given the nature of this emergency intervention;
Nigeria as the biggest economy in Africa cannot afford to remain in
recession; the survival of over 200 million population is germane
to all we do and we must address the concerns of the majority of
our populace”.
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/11/14/covid-19-fg-seeks-750m-loan-from-world-bank/