The loan is expected to cover the 35 per cent shortfall in the 2016 budget.
Senator Udoma made this appeal in Abuja during a meeting with ADB team over the weekend
The Minister said: “I want to thank you for the support. We value the relationship with ADB and we appreciate the budget support.
“We want ADB also to fastrack the loan facility. Important to note, is that ADB is standing with us.”
Senator Udoma, while giving overview of the government’s plan to reflate the economy and spend out of the recession, said that government is trying to contain the militancy in the Niger Delta, which has affected oil production in the country, hoping to restore production to 2.2 million barrels a day at the end of the year.
He also stated that government is committing money into infrastructure development, processing of export zones and also providing loans through the Central Bank of Nigeria at a single digit to support farming in Nigeria.
According to the Minister, the Economic Recovery Plan is designed to consolidate and harmonize all the sectoral plans in a single document and set out in broad detail an integrated roadmap for the growth and sustainability of the country’s economy and is also a part of the commitment the Federal Government made with Nigerians, whether there was a recession or not.
Speaking also at the meeting, the Director General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, said that what the government is doing differently concerning budget releases is that it has shifted from the old practice of releasing monies quarterly but on specific requests, which are tied to projects .
Akabueze said that so far, over N750 billion has been released for capital projects and it is hoped that revenue will improve in the second half of the year as the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service will do better having overcome some challenges faced in the first half of the year.
Source: theeagleonline.com.ng
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