President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja presented about
N8.612 trillion as the 2018 Appropriation bill to a joint session of the
National Assembly, saying the projected expenditure would drive rapid economic
recovery.
He
said at the session that with a benchmark of 45 dollars per barrel at an
exchange rate of N305 to a dollar in 2018, the budget would consolidate on the
achievements of previous budgets to aggressively steer the economy to the path
of steady growth.
“With
the economic recovery made so far, it is clear that we made the right
decisions.
“And I urge you all to
support the Federal Government’s policies towards economic recovery,’’ he said.
Buhari said that the
government would continue to develop infrastructure and increase investments in
agriculture to attain food security and reduce importation.
He added that while the
Federal Government was committed to identifying alternative means of funding
new projects, there was need to continue to pursue public private partnership,
to provide more infrastructure in the country.
According to him, the
Federal Government has been able to construct or rehabilitate about
776-kilometer roads in 2017.
The president said that the
construction of Abuja metroline had attained 98 per cent completion, adding
that work had commenced on the Ajaouta-Itakpe rail line which was abandoned for
17 years.
He said that the project
would be delivered in September 2018, adding that the country’s power sector
would witness a turn around.
“The power sector reform is
still working in progress as we have increased power generation but we still
have some challenges in transmission and distribution network,’’ Buhari said.
He added that the Federal
Government was committed to green alternative energy.
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