Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s revenues and foreign exchange earnings have taken a 60 per cent plunge due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Presidency said on Monday.
The Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, specifically made this disclosure at the start of the first-year ministerial performance review retreat taking place in Abuja, where he delivered the President’s speech.
President Muhammadu Buhari was absent at the programme because he jetted out of the country for the ECOWAS summit in the Niger Republic.
“As a result of the poor fortunes of the oil sector, our revenues and foreign exchange earnings have fallen drastically. Our revenues have fallen by almost 60 per cent.
“Yet we have had to sustain expenditures, especially on salaries and capital projects, in order to keep the economy going,” the Vice President said.
Nigeria recorded its first case on February 27, 2020, and registered more than 55,000 cases since then. The pandemic took its toll on not just the country’s local economy but drastically reduced the demand for crude oil, which is responsible for 90 per cent of Nigeria foreign exchange earnings.
According to Mr Osinbajo, President Buhari led administration adopted a N2.3 trillion Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to mitigate the effect of the economic slowdown.
The plan, which consists of fiscal, monetary, and sectoral measures, is expected to enhance local production, support businesses, retain and create jobs and provide assistance to Nigerians, especially the most vulnerable.
He explained that due to the impact, the federal government had to take some stringent measures to stop unsustainable practices that were weighing down the economy.
Giving an explanation, he said, “In this regard, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has created credit facilities for the healthcare (N100 billion) and manufacturing (N1 trillion) sectors.
“From January 2020 to date, over N191.87 billion has already been disbursed for 76 real sectors projects under the N1 trillion Real Sector Scheme; while 34 healthcare projects have been funded to the tune of N37.159 billion under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility.
“The facilities are meant to address some of the infrastructural gaps in the healthcare and manufacturing sector as a fall out to the COVID-19 pandemic and to facilitate the attainment of the government’s 5-year strategic plan.”
The first year ministerial review retreat is being held to create transparency on the status of the implementation of policies programs and projects of government and provide a roadmap towards the delivery of the nine-priority agenda during the first year of the second term of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
