RECESSION: Why We Won't Sell Assets- FG

Photo credit: Vanguard 

The Federal Government has yesterday clarified on the raging controversy over the sale of the Nation's assets.
The clarification was made known through a statement released by the Minister of Budget and National planning,  Senator Udoma Udo Udoma.

The minister said in the statement, “The primary objective of government’s fiscal stimulus plan is not to sell off all major critical national assets but to source immediate funds to reflate the economy and implement capital projects in the
2016 budget. Udoma is said to have given the explanation in Lagos at the weekend while briefing newsmen on the forthcoming Nigeria Nigerian Economic Summit coming up next month. Udoma said: “The government needs to inject a large dose of funds into the system to get the economy back on track
and to faithfully implement those provisions in the capital budget tailored at reflating the economy and aiding the
diversification process.
“The country has lost almost half of its expected revenue and would need to urgently source the shortfall to enable the government to faithfully implement the budget.
“This unfortunate scenario prompted the Economic Management Team to urgently work out a fiscal stimulus plan to generate immediate large injection of funds into the economy through asset sales, advance payment for license rounds, infrastructure concessioning, use of recovered funds, among others, to
reduce the funding gap.
“The other option would have been to source for additional loans, beyond the level of borrowing already projected for in the 2016 Budget. This would not be a wise option as it would raise the level of debt service to an unsustainable level.
“But the government is exploring several angles in the asset sales proposal including repurchase options, which will make provision for buy-back of those assets when the situation improves. The Minister insisted that the country’s
economy would not have gone into recession but for the drastic fall in oil production levels due to disruptions caused by militant activities.