By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed said on Sunday that the Coronavirus pandemic has impacted negatively on the economy leading to 65% decline in projected oil revenue in the first half of 2020.
According to her, it is anticipated that the situation will continue into the 3rd quarter because of the measures put in place by the Federal government to contain the pandemic.
The minister spoke at a Capacity Building program organized for Special Advisers and Technical Assistants to Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Abuja.
“The impact of COVID 19 has seen Government taking several measures to address the crisis. Like other primarily oil-dependent economies, we have been hit hard by the drop in crude oil prices and the COVID 19 pandemic.
“Our economy faced serious challenges in the first half of 2020, seeing about 65% decline in projected net 2020 Government revenues from the oil and gas sector, with adverse consequences for foreign exchange inflows into the economy.
We anticipate that these challenges will continue into the 3rd Quarter. The necessary implementation of a lock-down and social distancing measures led to a near complete shut-down of economic activities, lay-offs across most sectors, loss of income, and a drop in average
household purchasing power”, Ahmed noted.
The minister lamented that what began as a health crisis has quickly snowballed into a global economic crisis, adding the country has not been insulated from the pandemic which effect have been that the effects swift
and far-reaching.
She pointed out that prior to the pandemic, implementation of the ERGP, saw to the prudent resource management and fiscal policy implementation, stressing that “this effort led to eleven
consecutive quarters of GDP growth, with GDP growth from 1.91% in 2018 to 2.27% in
2019″.
The minister however stated that even with steady improvements, the economy was still largely
dependent on oil revenue and foreign exchange earnings, characterised by a high debt
service ratio, a weak infrastructure base, and low human capital development indices.
“These are some of the constraints that define our post-COVID 19 reality and have in turn informed our fiscal strategy and health response. Our response to the crisis has been proactive and people-oriented.
“The pandemic has required that we take a critical look at our health and economic policies, in order to swiftly introduce crisis management measures, catalyze support to the health sector, and accelerate certain key reforms while reimagining others entirely”, Ahmed added.
She disclosed that key interventions to contain the pandemic was the President’s
early establishment of a 12-member Presidential Task
Force on COVID-19; a N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund to finance the upgrade and improvement of healthcare facilities, and the creation of a Special Public Works Programme to employ 774,000 people, among other measures.
The minister enjoined the participants to regard their jobs as special advisers as very critical to the post Covid 19 Nigerian economy.
” Our response to COVID-19 is designed to ensure necessary transformation and innovation in the fiscal space and beyond, as we work to lessen the impact of the resulting recession. We must look beyond the short term and ensure that policies and programmes developed under the current Administration are
institutionalized and implemented.
“Your job is very important. In supporting your Principals, you’re supporting the Civil Service and in turn supporting Government to achieve its goals. I encourage you to take full advantage of this capacity training programme, and to use this opportunity to develop
new and strengthen existing collaborations across your respective Ministries”, she added .
The 3-day workshop which was organized by the ministry, in collaboration with Konrad-Adensuer Foundation (KAF) of Germany, is the first to be conducted during the present administration.
