In an effort boost the ailing Nigerian economy, the federal government is set to release a sum of N350 billion.
The minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, said since the 2016 budget was released in May, over N420 billion had been released for capital projects.
She listed some of the measures the administration had taken to address the economic recession, saying there was a strategic plan to revive the economy.
“The school feeding programme and the N-Power teachers corps we will cash back today as part of the N350 billion additional release, which would take our total capital spending to about N700 billion,” she said.
“We have a strategic plan that will take us out of the recession we have found ourselves in; we want to make sure the recession is as short as possible because we do not want a prolonged recession.
“From what we are looking at we do not think that it will be a prolonged recession; we think that some of the initiatives that we are working on will now begin to bear fruits.
“We are on course and are confident that the plan we have put together will work and put the economy back on track.
“It is a long-term plan that would re-position the economy so that we do not go into this boom and burst circles that are driven by the oil price. The economy has to be more resilient than that so that we do not find ourselves back where we are.’’
She also said that on a monthly basis, N50 billion was being set aside from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) to support some state governments to enable them to pay salaries.
Adeosun disclosed that the programme had been on for three months, but that states that were not buoyant decided not to participate.
She said that although there was no specific date to end the recession, the fact that there were measures in place was enough indication that the end of the recession had begun and that Nigeria would come out stronger.
Adeosun added that a lot had been done in the defence sector to rebuild the capability of the army, especially on efforts in the north-east.
