My Adminstration Inherited A Skewed Economy – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his adminsitration is committed to diversifying the economy.

He stated this during an Independence Day broadcast on Tuesday.

“This Administration inherited a skewed economy, where the Oil Sector comprised only 8% of Gross Domestic Product but contributed 70% of government revenue and 90% foreign exchange earnings over the years.”Past periods of relatively high economic growth were driven by our reliance on Oil Sector revenues to finance our demand for imported goods and services.

READ: My Administration Is Committed to Tackling Robbery, Kidnapping And Other Violent Crimes – Buhari

“Regrettably, previous governments abandoned the residual Investment-driven Non-Oil Sector, which constituted 40% of Gross Domestic Product and comprised agriculture, livestock, agro-processing, arts, entertainment, mining and manufacturing activities that provide millions of jobs for able-bodied Nigerians and utilize locally available raw materials and labour for production.

In order to address the imbalance, Buhari said his commitment to achieving economic diversification has been at the heart of our economic strategies under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) which was launched on the 5th of April, 2017.

“This medium-term development plan charted the trajectory for our economy to exit from recession and return to the path of sustainable, diversified and inclusive growth for Nigerians. Pursuant to these reforms, the economy has recovered and we have had 9 successive quarters of growth since our exit from recession. The exchange rate in the last 3 years has remained stable, with robust reserves of US$42.5 billion, up from US$23 billion in October 2016.

“Learning from the mistakes of the past, this Administration is committed to responsibly managing our oil wealth endowments. We will continue to prudently save our oil income and invest more in the non-oil job-creating sectors.”

He further stated that the government is significantly increasing investments in critical infrastructure.

READ: Nigeria @ 59: Let’s Rededicate Ourselves to A United, Prosperous And Purposeful Nation, Buhari Urges Nigerians

“Last year, capital releases only commenced with the approval of the Budget in June 2018. However, as at 20th June this year, up to N1.74 trillion had been released for capital projects in the 2018 fiscal year.

“Implementation of the 2019 Capital Budget, which was only approved in June 2019, will be accelerated to ensure that critical priority projects are completed or substantially addressed. The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has been directed to release N600 billion for Capital Expenditure in the next 3 months.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *