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N350bn release for capital projects begins

By on May 14, 2016

The Federal Government said on Thursday that it would commence the release of the sum of N350bn set aside for capital projects as contained in the 2016 budget Friday.

The Minister for Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, disclosed this during the public presentation of the 2016 budget, which was signed last Friday by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the amount, to be released by the Ministry of Finance, would be made available to finance projects that were ready for execution.

“We are ready to kick-start the implementation of the budget and by Friday, some releases will be made for capital projects that are ready for execution,” the minister said.

He said while it was not possible for all the N350bn to be released at once as not all the projects would be ready for execution, the government would make sure that the process for project execution was quickened.

Udoma explained that the need to ensure the speedy release of the funds for capital projects had become imperative in order to stimulate economic activities and reposition the economy on the path of growth.

He said the Federal Government had put in place a strategic plan to ensure that the budget would not suffer any implementation challenge, adding that despite its late passage, the budget would be implemented for one full year.

This, according to him, implies that the implementation of the fiscal document will end in May, 2017.

Udoma stated that the desire of the government was to ensure that the budget process was completed before the beginning of each year, adding that in order to achieve that, his ministry had started working on the 2017 budget.

He said going forward, the ministry would engage in wider consultations with all stakeholders during the budget preparation process in order to guard against delays.

The minister explained that the government, through the 2016 budget, would be investing massively in infrastructure, adding that huge funds had been made available for over 40 road and bridge projects spread across the federation.

For the housing sector, the minister said a total sum of N35.6bn had been approved for the construction of 1,973 blocks of 7,069 housing units in the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory.

In the agriculture sector, Udoma stated that in pursuit of the nation’s self-sufficiency and food security programme, several projects would be implemented.

They include the rehabilitation of rural roads at a cost of N1.3bn, support to 187,500 farmers at a cost of N1.3bn, and N940m for the development of strategic grazing reserves.

For the diversification of the economy, the minister said the government would implement measures to achieve self-sufficiency and become a net exporter of rice by 2018, tomato paste by 2016, and wheat by 2019.

In the area of social protection, the minister said N500bn had been provided for intervention in five areas.

They are job creation where 500,000 teachers and 100,000 artisans will be trained at a cost of N191.5bn; the school feeding programme where 5.5 million children will be fed for 200 school days at a cost of N93.1bn; and N5,000 a month conditional cash transfer for one million beneficiaries at a total cost of N68.7bn.

Others are the enterprise programme to support one million market women, 460,000 artisans and 200,000 agriculture workers at a cost of N140.3bn; and education grant for 100,000 students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at a cost of N5.8bn.

 

[Punch]