Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said things has not been easy for the Buhari administration due the adverse impact of covid-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy.
Osinbajo who made the statement on Monday said Nigeria's major revenue earner has been hardly hit, thereby resulting in a sharp fall in the country’s revenue and foreign exchange earnings.
“For the government, it has been a particularly trying time,” Osinajo said while representing President Muhammadu Buhari at the start of the first-year Ministerial performance review retreat holding in Abuja.
“As a result of the poor fortunes of the oil sector, our revenues and foreign exchange earnings have fallen drastically. Our revenues have fallen by almost 60 percent,” he added.
Osinbajo said despite the slump, the Nigerian Government had to sustain expenditures, “especially on salaries and capital projects, in order to keep the economy going.”
He said the government adopted a N2.3 trillion economic sustainability plan to mitigate the effect of the economic slowdown.
The plan, which consists of fiscal, monetary, and sectoral measures, is expected “to enhance local production, support businesses, retain and create jobs and provide succor to Nigerians, especially the most vulnerable.”
“But we have also had to make some difficult decisions to stop unsustainable practices that were weighing the economy down,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide, Mr Femi Adesina, has said the Federal Government is well aware of the economic hardship in the country, and is set to spend ₦2.3tn to revive the nation’s economy as part of the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) to ameliorate the effects of COVID-19 in the country.
He also called on states and local governments to complement the efforts of the Federal Government to reduce the economic effects of COVID-19 on the people.