As the Federal Government continues to gather inputs for the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), Commissioners of Budget and Economic Development as well as Permanent Secretaries of related departments in States of the Federation on Thursday gathered in Abuja to consider inputs to the Plan.
In the last three weeks, the Federal government has had consultations with economic experts, private sector operators, academic and government stakeholders, which generated very insightful perspectives and ideas on issues to consider in the plan.
Addressing the opening session of the State Commissioners Roundtable on Thursday, Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning said their views and inputs were very necessary because of the critical role States play in the Nigerian economy.
The Commissioners were to, among other things, review the context of the ERGP, identify the potential areas for States’ interventions, share the plan structure and discuss potential key initiatives expected to be implemented at the National and State levels, propose the role of States in ensuring effective implementation of the plan as well as provide inputs on the structure and content of the plan.
Udoma said the plan became all the more imperative because of the current state of the economy which relapsed into recession in the second quarter of the year and which posted a GDP growth level of -2.24% in the third quarter.
“The States are also badly hit, with oil prices and production volumes declining to low levels and the inability of most States to pay salaries and also meet up with other key expenditure/investment needs”, he said.
According to the Minister, the recession reflects inherent structural issues in the nature of the country’s economy, the current manifestation of which began in mid-2014 when the global oil prices crashed.
He said the Federal government has taken steps in the 2016 Budget to proactively address the challenges in the 2016 Budget, and was designed to reflate the economy. The Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) set out a number of initiatives which were designed to support the implementation of the budget. Many of the initiatives have started yielding results, he added.
The goal of the ERGP, the Minster emphasized, is to have an economy with low inflation, stable exchange rates, and a diversified and inclusive growth. “The proposed initiatives prescribed by the plan should address our poor competitiveness, improve the business environment and attract investment in infrastructure, especially power, roads, rail and ports”, the Minister emphasized.
“Coordination among Federal, States and Local Governments is crucial to the implementation of the plan. We desire a plan that is realistic and would achieve the desired results. Your views are certainly invaluable in this regard”, Udoma told the participants.
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