Federal government contractors who have been waiting to be paid can now heave a sigh of relief as the Ministry of Finance is set to pay, so they could return to sites.
Mr. Festus Akanbi, Special Adviser (Media) to the Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, told Vanguard yesterday, that contractors handling various roads and other infrastructure projects would be one of the first beneficiaries of the N350 billion to be immediately pumped into the economy, after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2016 budget.
His words, “the federal government is determined to rebate the economy by stimulating various activities that will bring about jobs and wealth creation.
“One critical group is the contractors who are undertaking various roads and other infrastructure projects of the federal government, across the country.
“Recall that most of these contractors have left sites and laid off their workers because they were not being paid. What the governments wants to do is to pay these contractors, but we will get a commitment from them that they must re-engage their workers and return to sites.
“By so doing, people will work, get paid and have money in their pockets to spend. It is as they have the purchasing power and make purchases that we can have many other activities going on in the economy to strengthen the economy.”
Mr. Akanbi also said that electric power sector would receive urgent attention, now that the budget has been signed, in order to increase electricity supply to consumers.
According to him, with better power supply, a lot could be achieved in the manufacturing sector and among the medium and small entrepreneurs, whose activities revolve around electricity.
He added that the federal government, working with the two lower tiers of government would create the enabling environment for farm produce to easily reach markets and eliminate post harvest losses, which has adversely affected farmers in most parts of the country.
The housing sector, he said also occupies a priority place in the planned rebate of the economy, as the federal government wants to use it to create jobs among artisans who would be engaged in the building industry.
He, however, said that the details of the housing programme would be announced by the relevant ministry and other state actors in that sector.
Mrs. Adeosun had in an earlier interview said that the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), would be “repositioned in line with government's objective which is investments in infrastructure," adding, “the government realised that even with 30 per cent of the budget earmarked for capital spend, the country's infrastructure gap is so wide that government alone cannot bridge it.
"So what we are hoping is that the Sovereign Wealth Fund now becomes a channel to attract further private capital, particularly from investment funds abroad. We really want to focus on infrastructure - toll roads, bridges, power plants, things that would help the economy grow."
Mr. Festus Akanbi, Special Adviser (Media) to the Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, told Vanguard yesterday, that contractors handling various roads and other infrastructure projects would be one of the first beneficiaries of the N350 billion to be immediately pumped into the economy, after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2016 budget.
His words, “the federal government is determined to rebate the economy by stimulating various activities that will bring about jobs and wealth creation.
“One critical group is the contractors who are undertaking various roads and other infrastructure projects of the federal government, across the country.
“Recall that most of these contractors have left sites and laid off their workers because they were not being paid. What the governments wants to do is to pay these contractors, but we will get a commitment from them that they must re-engage their workers and return to sites.
“By so doing, people will work, get paid and have money in their pockets to spend. It is as they have the purchasing power and make purchases that we can have many other activities going on in the economy to strengthen the economy.”
Mr. Akanbi also said that electric power sector would receive urgent attention, now that the budget has been signed, in order to increase electricity supply to consumers.
According to him, with better power supply, a lot could be achieved in the manufacturing sector and among the medium and small entrepreneurs, whose activities revolve around electricity.
He added that the federal government, working with the two lower tiers of government would create the enabling environment for farm produce to easily reach markets and eliminate post harvest losses, which has adversely affected farmers in most parts of the country.
The housing sector, he said also occupies a priority place in the planned rebate of the economy, as the federal government wants to use it to create jobs among artisans who would be engaged in the building industry.
He, however, said that the details of the housing programme would be announced by the relevant ministry and other state actors in that sector.
Mrs. Adeosun had in an earlier interview said that the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), would be “repositioned in line with government's objective which is investments in infrastructure," adding, “the government realised that even with 30 per cent of the budget earmarked for capital spend, the country's infrastructure gap is so wide that government alone cannot bridge it.
"So what we are hoping is that the Sovereign Wealth Fund now becomes a channel to attract further private capital, particularly from investment funds abroad. We really want to focus on infrastructure - toll roads, bridges, power plants, things that would help the economy grow."
Vanguard News
