By Etuka Sunday
The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday said that a total of N2.3 trillion would be set aside by the federal government to support budget and other sectors of the economy.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala who made the disclosure while giving her scorecard at the Presidential Public Affairs Forum in Abuja also said, Nigeria’s economy was stable despite challenges of insecurity, unemployment etc in the land.
Iweala said the current rebasing of the economy was done by the present administration after 24 years, making Nigeria the largest economy in Africa ahead of South-Africa.
She noted that significant improvements have recorded in external borrowing from $1.3 trillion to all time low of 571 billion. The minister said there was over dependent on oil in the country,
therefore the need for diversification for Non-Oil Revenue.
Also in his presentation, the Minister of Works, Arch. Mike Onolememen said total 62 roads have so far been completed, while others have recorded impressive improvements.
According to him, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) awarded 98 projects, saying that some of those projects have been completed while others are ongoing.
Arch. Onolememen gave 184 as the total number of ongoing highway projects.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga in his presentation said
before 2011, there was no industry plan and low manufacturing contribution to GDP less than 4per cent.
He said because of the falling price of oil, there was need to diversify, and that led to Nigeria Industry Revolution Plan,(NIRP) a programme to industrialise which according to him is now yielding results.
On Auto Policy, he said, over 22 companies have signed commitments with technicalpartners to assemble cars in Nigeria.
Aganga said Nigeria gotten 150 million worth of investments from Auto Sector and is likely to increase to 300 million by 2016.
Earlier in his speech, the Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, lamented the fact that the Media is being controlled by the opposition at the expense of the Jonathan Administration success stories.
Okupe said, Nigerians have been subjected to a lot of misinformation about the present administration, arguing that no administration ever has performed like this present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in terms of massive transformation.
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