President Muhamadu Buhari says the Federal Government expended N2.3 trillion as stimulus plan to avert an economic disaster that could last for years as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buhari said this in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Saturday at the graduation ceremony for Senior Executive Course (SEC) 43 participants of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the president said the pandemic caused enomous damage to Nigerian economy, adding that the country’s GDP contracted to 6.10 per cent during the second quarter of 2020, as oil price went down to $10 per barrel before it finally settled at about $45 per barrel during the second quarter of 2020.
“Unemployment went up to 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020. The transportation sector declined by 49 per cent, the hospitality sector fell 40 per cent, the education sector fell 24 per cent, real estate declined by 22 per cent, trade declined by 17 per cent and construction declined by 40 per cent,” he said.
“Nigeria was in a terrible economic situation and response, we took two swift steps; One was to set up a small inter-ministerial Committee headed by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, to quickly work out the implications and the immediate mitigation for the economic shocks we were headed for.
“The second thing the we did swiftly was to direct a team of ministers and inter-agency heads to draw up a 12-month economic emergency plan, which became known as the Economic Sustainability Plan.
“We were clear that the only way of avoiding an economic disaster that could last for years was for the government to essentially put forward a major fiscal stimulus plan.
“Such a plan must have clear objectives of saving jobs and creating new ones, supporting businesses that may close down, and employees that may not be paid during lockdowns, and, of course, healthcare support to reduce the COVID-19 caseload. So we promptly put forward a stimulus plan in the order of N2.3 trillion.”
Buhari said the economic agenda put in place by his administration to stop the country’s economic downturn in the aftermath of the pandemic was still on course.
He said Nigeria was in talks with the World Bank to raise $30 million to establish bio vaccine plants in the country to facilitate local production of the COVID-19 vaccine.
