The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, has renewed calls on full implementation and embracement of Made-in-Nigeria, as a strategy to rescue the country from its current economic quagmires.
The minister who spoke at media briefing, organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) to announce its preparation for the forthcoming 22nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES), at the weekend also ascribed woes of the economy to past failures in implementation of policies intended to improve it.
According to him, the need to embrace self-sufficiency as a viable weapon to improve Nigeria’s shrinking economy is imperative now that reliance on crude oil as a single commodity has prompted the challenges the country is facing due to oil falling price and dwindling production, leading to a drastic fall in the nation’ revenue.
As the NESG’s prepares for the 22nd NES, slated for October 10-12, 2016, Udoma assured that the federal government, through the Ministry of Budget and Planning, would give it adequate support, as the conference has been targeted, with its theme- Made-in-Nigeria, towards achieving production reliability and standard in the country.
He also added: “Our goal is to unlock the economic potential of the non-oil and high-employment sectors, so as to achieve sustainable inclusive growth that will ensure that the majority of Nigerians become more productive, thereby reducing poverty.
“Thus, we are deliberately working towards diversifying the Nigerian economy by ensuring that the non-oil sector drives the economy because this is the sector that contributes the most to the gross domestic product (GDP); and has more capacity to employ.”
The minister also admitted that investors have been fleeing the Africa’s biggest economy because of her economic crunch as investors’ confidence remained shaking, even as he assured that government’s efforts would yield a turnaround soon.
In an effort to restore the confidence, he said, the federal government has decided to sell part of its assets to generate foreign exchange that could be used to bridge financing gaps in the economy, especially in local manufacturing of goods.
Share this
