Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s finance minister, has said that she cannot predict when the nation will get out of the current economic recession.
She, however, added that some of the efforts of the government to reflate the economy had started yielding results.
The minister, who spoke in an interview in Abuja on Sunday, September 26 2016, disclosed, “I don’t want to predict when we will get out of recession. Let me tell you that we will get into growth and that’s how you get out of recession, because of the stimulus that we are providing.
“And it may take longer than we would like, but we will definitely get out of it. We are already seeing some positive signs in agriculture and solid minerals;and with what we are trying to do with other sectors, I am very sure we will get out of it soon.”
Adeosun also explained that despite the recession, lots of foreign investors were still interested in coming to invest in Nigeria.
As a demonstration of their interest in the country, she said the $1bn Eurobond being floated by the country had received a lot of commitments from investors, adding that the funds would start coming in before the end of the year.
Adeosun added that the report of the committee set up last month to review the national tax policy would be ready this week
On final decision on asset sales, She stressed that the Federal Government had yet to take a final decision on which of the country’s national assets it would dispose of to finance the 2016 budget
In a related development the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had last week Monday, September 19, 2016 stated that the country would start getting out of recession by the fourth quarter of the year.
Emefiele noted “We are already in the valley, the only direction is to go up the hill and the government is doing everything possible to ensure that we move up the hill. I am optimistic that based on the actions being taken by the monetary and fiscal authorities, the fourth quarter results will show evidence that we have started to move out of recession.
“The worst is over. The Nigerian economy is on the path of recovery and growth. So, please if you are a bystander or sideliner, you are losing; join the train now before it leaves the station.”
To facilitate the recovery of the economy from recession, Adeosun said about N770bn had been channelled into the economy for various capital projects this year, adding that the monitoring team in the Ministry of Budget and Planning was putting contractors on their toes to ensure that they delivered the projects.
