State governments have so far accessed N373.56billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as bailout to address issues of staff salaries, a document revealed.
The amount was accessed by a total of twenty eight states between August 2015 and January 2016, a paper presented at the National Economic Council (NEC) Retreat by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, said.
Ttitled ‘Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 Budget of Change’ the paper further disclosed that 23 states had their bank loans amounting to N575.52 billion restructured into 20 years FGN bonds.
External reserves reduced from $37.5billion in June 2014 to $27.8 billion as at mid-March, 2016, Udoma said adding that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at less than 5 percent compared to 17 percent in other emerging markets.
The budget minister added that the 2016 Budget is designed to reflate the economy through government expenditure-led growth strategy with emphasis on infrastructure development. “Most of the policies, programmes and projects will need the support of state governments for effective implementation,” he said.
Another paper prepared by the Office of the Vice President, titled “Investing in our people: The role of state governments” noted that the number of Nigerians in dire need of support was on the increase following the rise in economic and security challenges facing the country.
The document noted that over 11million Nigerian children according to the record of the UNICEF suffer from malnutrition, while over 120million Nigerians are living on less than $2per day according to the World Bank.
The which had also been presented during a closed session at the retreat, showed over 3.3million Nigerians are internally displaced (the highest number in Africa); over 18million unemployed and over 10.5million out-of-school children.
The document noted that the middle class in Nigeria is fast disappearing and more Nigerians are falling below the poverty line.
“Teeming youth and working age population, especially women are finding it increasingly difficult to fund and sustain their businesses. Rising poverty poses largest threat to the Nigerian state, all invariably linked to the country’s growing social and security challenges,” it added.
Elizabeth Archibong
