Vice chairman Yemi Osinbajo has lamented that the poverty situation within the country, also the economic distortions and hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, are deepening daily.
He said it had been therefore crucial for relevant ministers and other key actors to expedite action on the N2.3trn stimulus package designed by the govt to mitigate the effect of the crisis on the economy.
According to a press release on Tuesday by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, the vice chairman made his position known in his presentation on the Economic Sustainability Plan at the primary Year Ministerial Performance Review Retreat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday.
The statement was titled, ‘VP to ministers at retreat: The N2.3trn stimulus package must be implemented quickly’.
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The statement quoted Osinbajo as saying, “We are already on Day 67 since the plan. Nothing goes to happen by magic; we've to try to to these things .
“We need to make sure that we've the cash and make sure that day by day, we are measuring our achievements and trying to make sure that we do the items that we'd like to try to to . and that we aren't favoured by time, every single day, the poverty situation and therefore the economic distortions deepen.”
Osinbajo was further quoted as saying that the sole answer of the present problem was to fund production, enable consumer spending in order that people can go and buy things, and that we to place money in people’s hands.
He said under the mass agriculture programme, the govt had enumerated four million farmers.
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Under the mass housing programme, he explained that the govt would build 300,000 homes across the country and would make sure that their prices didn't exceed N2m.
Osinbajo said all the components of the plan were designed to make jobs.
“Agriculture requiring N637.2bn funding will provide five million jobs; the solar energy project funding requirement is N152.4bn is predicted to supply 250,000 jobs; the mass housing programme with a funding requirement of N217.3bn is predicted to make 1.5m jobs; while structure funding is N52bn to supply 774,000 jobs: and N100bn is required to supply 500, 000 jobs within the SMEs,” he said.
He said if appropriately implemented, the plan was capable of turning the nation’s economic fortunes around.
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