Buhari, ministers in EMERGENCY meeting over economic recession

President Muhammadu Buhari his deputy, ministers and heads of federal ministries, agencies and departments to meet in Abuja on Thursday, September 15

The emergency meeting will be dedicated to searching for ways to end economic recession in Nigeria, discussing the 2017 budget and priority areas of the MDAs 

The Ministry of Budget and National Planning has issued a statement informing the general public about a planned meeting, where President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, ministers and heads of federal ministries, departments and agencies will discuss steps to get Nigeria’s economy out of recession and more.

A statement released by the spokesperson of Udo Udoma, the minister of budget and national planning, on Wednesday reads in part:“The key objective of the retreat is to discuss the 2017 budget as well as discuss steps being taken to get the economy out of recession.

The meeting is part of a scheduled arrangement to fine-tune and set the right parameters for the 2017 budget. It will provide an opportunity to discuss the framework of the 2017 budget, the key priorities and the deliverables of the budget.

The retreat is expected to deliver improved understanding of the measures being taken to get the country out of recession; improve synergy among the various ministries for enhanced implementation of planning and budget, and enhance knowledge of how to develop 2017 budget which is effectively linked with the medium-term plan.

The meeting will also review prioritized projects and programmes of ministries to fit into the 2017-2019 MTSS, 2017-2020 medium term plan and 2017 budget; and improved understanding on the budget ceiling for MDAs for 2017 budget.”

Also, the meeting will be attended by private sector facilitators and some economic experts who will provide perspectives during the technical sessions.

The retreat became necessary, as years of the country’s growth and development has been impeded by a mismatch between planned targets and budgetary outcomes at the national and sectoral levels due to lack of synergy between the various federal MDAs.