The Federal Government has said it is working out a stimulus package that will take the country’s economy out of global recession to positive growth in 2021.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said this while fielding questions from State House Correspondents on Thursday, following a meeting of the Economic Sustainability Committee presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Ahmed stated that the global economy would go into recession in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to her, the prediction of the International Monetary Fund that Nigeria would go into a negative growth of 3.4 per cent next year is based on an assessment of the National Bureau of Statistics.
Ahmed said, “But if we take all these measures that we are planning now, we will be able to, by 2021, go back into positive growth. That is why this is very important.”
The minister, however, noted that the stimulus package being worked out by the economic sustainability committee would be approved by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), before it would be announced to Nigerians.
“We are looking at various ways and means to support each sector of the economy, providing for each sector clear interventions that would be designed for the primary purpose of creating jobs and ensuring that businesses stay afloat during these difficult times,” she added.
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