As recommended by the economic sustainability committee led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).
The FEC approval of the N2.3 trillion stimulus plan at its meeting on Wednesday was announced by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.
The minister said:
The total package that we presented today is in the sum of N2.3 trillion. N500 billion of this is a stimulus package that is already provided for in the amended 2020 Appropriations Act. These are funds that we have sourced from special accounts. We also have N1.2 trillion of this funds to be sourced as structured low-cost loans which are interventionary from the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as other development partners and institutions.
We have N344 billion that will be sourced from bilateral and external sources and also additional funds that we can source locally.
It was gathered that the goals of the NESP are to create jobs, pump money into the economy, prevent it from slipping into recession, and support small businesses.
She stated:
There is a strategy that has been adopted and this whole plan is to enable us respond to the triple problem of low exchange rate, youth unemployment as well as negative growth which is facing us now.
The plan has to also support small businesses that have suffered severe impact of COVID-19 as a result of lockdowns, especially, the hotel industry, private schools, restaurants as well as the transport sector have been very well impacted by this.
We have also seen a significant impact on the poor and the vulnerable and even people that were okay as small traders, have been hard hit.
The minister also said the council noted interventions in the plan that would prevent businesses from collapsing and also infuse liquidity into the Nigerian economy.
