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Nigeria needs N31 trillion yearly for infrastructure

By George Opara and Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja
06 June 2017   |   4:36 am
A member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Doyin Salami, says Nigeria needs N31 trillion yearly for infrastructure spending as against less than N5 trillion being spent by the three tiers of government.

Salami said that the factor of growth in an economy is not the same as development because “when the indices of growth and development are not impacting on the well-being of the people it means the growth and development are not inclusive.” / AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI

A member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Doyin Salami, says Nigeria needs N31 trillion yearly for infrastructure spending as against less than N5 trillion being spent by the three tiers of government.

He added that the prevailing economic recession may not go any time soon as the country presently records a high rate of inflation hitting over 17 per cent, adding that the governments inadequate funding has even resulted in the nation’s infrastructural deficit.

He warned that with available indices showing the nation’s economy is at its ebb, the private sector should be given the needed enabling environment to drive the nation’s economy for inclusive growth and development.

The submissions were made yesterday at the one-year anniversary of the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER) held at the Senate wing of the National Assembly (NASS).

Salami, who lectures at the Lagos Business School said that the factor of growth in an economy is not the same as development because “when the indices of growth and development are not impacting on the well-being of the people it means the growth and development are not inclusive.”

He told NASSBER to focus on realities on the ground, concentrate on infrastructure legislation in a way that will give the private sector the leverage of driving the process of economic growth and development in the country since the public sector is already overwhelmed with attendant infrastructure deficit and low development index generally.

In his words: “Government cannot on its own fund infrastructure, available statistics revealed that Nigeria needs $100billion or N31trillion on yearly basis to fund infrastructure as against the N3trillion to N5trillion being spent by government across the three tiers on yearly basis with attendant infrastructural deficit, high rate of employment and other worrying indices like over 17 per cent inflation rate.’’

Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, ssured the economic experts that the National Assembly and in particular, the Senate, will continue to work on legislations that would bring about diversification of the Nation’s economy on the basis of making the private sector very vibrant for the needed economic growth and development.

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