The Federal Government has appealed to the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fast-track the $1bn loan agreement entered with it as a means of achieving greater implementation of the 2016 budget.
Amid shortfall in national revenues occasioned by declining production and dwindling oil prices, the AfDB loan is expected to cover the 35 per cent deficit in the budget.
This was made known by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, in a statement issued Sunday by the Director of Information in the ministry, Mr. Adedeji Ajibade, during a meeting with the AfDB team in Abuja, Punch writes.
“I want to thank you for the support. We value the relationship with the AfDB and we appreciate the budget support. We want the AfDB also to fast-track the loan facility. It is important to note that the AfDB is standing with us,” the Minister said.
Udoma lamented the disruptive activities of militants in the Niger Delta region which has had a crippling effect on oil production, stating that FG was hoping to restore production to 2.2 million barrels per day at the end of the year and peg the liquidity scarcity.
He added that the Economic Recovery Plan of government would consolidate all the sectoral plans in a single document and set out in broad details an integrated road map for the growth and sustainability of the country’s economy.
The minister also stated that the government was committing funds to infrastructure development, processing of export zones and providing loans through the Central Bank of Nigeria at a single digit interest rate as a means of supporting farming and spending out of the present recession.
The AfDB team had come to seek further clarifications on policy reforms and the level of budget implementation as touching on capital budget releases.
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