Having identified some critical issues for priority attention, the federal government (FG) is committed to diversifying the economy away from external vulnerabilities, focusing on revenue mobilisation, infrastructural development, addressing food security and human development, according to Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
In her recent chat with Abebe Selassie, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Africa Department Director, Mrs. Ahmed explained that the human development includes social protection, and that the government is determined to explore the transmission mechanisms to change the narrative.
On the overview of the Nigerian economy, she recalled that the country was just recovering from a recession when COVID-19 pandemic came. “It did not only push us back to recession but also reversed most of the development gains recorded in the past decade,” she said.
The setbacks, according to her, required that the government made policy trade-offs to quickly fill the deepening gaps. She noted that, nonetheless, quite a number of the policies were well thought out and decisive steps aimed at building resilience.
Noting further, Mrs. Ahmed said that to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, the government encapsulated the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) with the support of our development partners, including the world Bank Group (WBG) last year. “Although the gross domestic product (GDP) recorded a growth rate of 0.11 percent (year-on-year) in the 4th quarter of 2020, in contrast to -3.62 percent in Q3 2020 and 2.55 percent in the corresponding period of 2019 (NBS), and inflation creeping through 17.33 percent, we are a bit encouraged by the recent IMF forecast of 2.5 percent,” she also said.
