There
was an insight yesterday into the Federal Government’s battle against the
recession that has hit the economy.
The
government’s plan to exit the recession which got the backing of the National
Economic Council (NEC) includes
- assets sales;
- advance payment of licence renewals;
- infrastructure concessioning; and
- implementation of fiscal stimulus.
The
NEC is the highest economic decision body chaired by the vice president. Other
members are governors and key ministers in charge of the economy and the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor.
Some
experts and leading politicians have suggested the sale of some assets, saying
this will provide the cash to reflate the economy, reopen factories and put
money in the people’s pockets.
Pushing
this view are business giant Aliko Dangote, former Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) Governor Muhammad Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano and Senate President Bukola
Saraki, among others.
But
Labour has condemned the idea, saying it will make a few to amass the wealth of
all and deepen the seeming despair in the land.
Yesterday’s
meeting, which started about 11.10am, was presided over by Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo.
No
fewer than 23 governors attended it. They include Governors Ayo Fayose
(Ekiti), Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta),
Abubakar Mohammed (Bauchi), Willy Obiano (Anambra), Ifeanyi
Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Abdufatah Ahmed (Kwara), Yahaya Bello
(Kogi), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Aminu
Tambuwal (Sokoto), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa).
Deputy
governors of Rivers, Nasarawa, Katsina and Lagos represented their bosses.
A
statement from the media office of the Vice President on the meeting said:
“Rising from its monthly meeting today at the Presidential Villa, members of
the National Economic Council, NEC, presided over by Vice President Prof Yemi
Osinbajo (SAN), expressed support for the plans and proposals of the Federal
Government to steer the country out of recession.
“While
acknowledging the current economic challenges and difficulties, governors at
the meeting also endorsed the work of the President’s Economic Management Team
and specifically commended the Budget & Planning and Finance Ministers.”
Among
the measures for economic revitalisation, he said, are a plan to generate
immediate larger injection of fund into the economy through assets sales,
advance payment of licence renewals, infrastructure concessioning, and use of
recovered funds etc to reduce funding gaps, implementation of Fiscal
Stimulus/Budget Priorities.
“Council
members in response commended the Economic Management Team and generally
welcomed the presentation and expressed support for the plan to steer the
nation out of recession.
“Under
AOB, Council members expressed confidence in and unanimously commended the EMT
and both the Budget & National Planning and Finance Ministers for the
presentations to the Council, praising their efforts, competence and
capabilities.”
The
NEC also expressed confidence in the capability of Minister of Budget and
National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma and Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun.
Deputy
Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and a few other senators on
Wednesday pushed for the removal of Udoma and Adeosun for their ‘poor’
handling of the economy and the recession.
But,
speaking with reporters at the State House yesterday at the end of the NEC
meeting, Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu said NEC praised the handling
of the economy.
He
was accompanied to the briefing by Ajimobi and Ogun State Deputy Governor Mrs.
Yetunde Onanuga.
Bagudu
said: “The National Economic Council met today at its sixth meeting of the
year, which is the 70th National Executive Council meeting and the Ministers of
Budget and National Planning and the Central Bank (of Nigeria) Governor made
presentations and the highlights of the presentations were the sad news that
the economy was in recession largely due to the dependency on single commodity
which is crude oil, which prices we do not control.
“Oil
price collapsed to less than $30 per barrel in first quarter of 2016 and market
expectation is that it will remain low for a longer period.
“However,
this crisis holds a silver lining to restructure the economy towards other
areas that we believe we have comparative advantage.
“Fast
track procedures through legislation and strategic implementation plan of the
budget, meaningful diversification of the economy which will cut down
importation.
“The
members of the council responded and acknowledged with commendation the
presentation by the economic team and support the plan to steer the nation out
of recession.
“And,
in particular, it was noted that our economic managers the National Economic
Team are responding in competition with economic managers elsewhere. So it is
not an easy task, it is a very difficult task and we crave the indulgence of
our nation to give them a chance for the measures to take effect.”
Ajimobi
said the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform (PTCLR) presented the
draft regulation on Land Use Act 2013 to NEC.
According
to him, the regulation seeks to make provisions to streamline mortgage
transactions and clearly delineate the rights, duties and obligations of a
mortgage.
Ajimobi
said the Minister of Finance made a presentation on Public Private Partnership
(PPP) Initiatives on Affordable Housing.
Highlights
of the presentation, he said, included target of N1 billion fund to operate PPP
(N500 billion initial) to create a blended pool of long term funds to intervene
in housing development finance and mortgage provision
He
said the fund will deliver family housing for as low as N2.5 million up to N18
million delivered in a ready to occupy condition with essential services (water
and power connected).
Ajimobi
said: “The delivery target is 400,000 to 500,000 housing units per annum. The
ultimate aim of the programme is to channel funds from savers to borrowers, so
that builders have the required capital to construct and prospective buyers can
access credit to purchase.
“The
fund will attract low cost local and international capital, including from
domestic pension and insurance funds, Federal Government funding, as well as
contributions from state governments and other agencies.”
The
states are to designate a liaison with whom Family Homes Fund can interface,
expedite building plan approval process and security of land title, invest in
enabling infrastructure, such as Federal roads.
Other
benefits, Ajimobi said, include improved urban planning and development,
employment generation and skills enhancement, and expansion of tax base.
Mrs.
Onanuga said the NEC was briefed that the balance on Excess Crude Account (ECA)
as at 20th September, 2016 was $2.453 billion.
She
said Adeosun and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele briefed NEC on best options for
managing the floating forex policy introduced by Emefuele.
Highlights
of the presentation, Mrs Onanuga said, included CBN -introduced cautious
Monetary Policy orientation as dictated by consumer price and exchange
rate, adoption of policy tightening measures for flexible forex rate to address
persistent pressures caused by scarcity and speculative demands, improving
market dynamics by CBN, interventions to states in the area of salaries and in
commercial agriculture.
She
said that the presentation also noted that controlling inflation is key to
stabilising other macroeconomic indices and the current stance of monetary
policy is expected to continue to help lock-in inflation expectations.
On
the update on Budget Support Loan facility, Mrs Onanuga said the minister of
finance reported to Council that N50 billion had so far been disbursed to state
governments while the facility was ongoing.
Source:The Nation
Tags
Politics