By Emma Ujah
The Federal Government has provided a N656.1 billion bridging facility to state governments to cushion the effects of resumed bail out deductions.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this at the 2021 conference of the National Council on Finance and Economic Development, NACOFED, in Lagos yesterday.
The Acting Director (Information), Mr. Olajide Oshundun, in a statement quoted the minister as saying that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the bridging facility, adding that the modalities had been worked.
She disclosed that the facility would be for a period of six months.
The minister said Nigeria’s economic recovery, after the COVID-19 pandemic, had been sustainably good, noting that the recent past had been very challenging for the nation and indeed the entire globe.
She, however, noted that Nigeria’s rate of recovery from the pandemic had been very encouraging as according to her “things are now looking up for us and our economy is bouncing back to normal.”
Mrs. Ahmed said the conference provided a veritable platform for stakeholders in the public and private sectors financial management to brainstorm on issues relating to the impact, implications, challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic.
She disclosed that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements with the World Bank to further make available another $750 million as additional financing for states under the States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability, SFTAS, programme.
Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, in his keynote address, thanked the Federal Government for its implementation of various initiatives to boost the economy, adding that all hands must be on deck to rebuild from the destruction occasioned by this COVID-19 pandemic.
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