FG releases economic recovery plan, targets average 4.6% GDP growth

07 Mar 2017
Financial Nigeria

Summary

The government said it is committed to bringing economic, social and environment sustainability to the forefront of its policies.

Nigerian Acting President Yemi Osinbajo

The Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning has released its much-awaited Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017–2020, a medium-term economic plan. The three broad objectives outlined in the ERGP are restoration of economic growth, investing in the Nigerian people, and building a globally competitive economy.

While speaking at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2017, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had said Nigeria's economic plan would be ready by the following month.

The federal government said the plan was designed to be driven by Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and the need to build a knowledge-based economy. The ERGP is also aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The government said it is committed to bringing economic, social and environment sustainability to the forefront of its policies.

According to the stated vision of the plan, "There is an urgent need as a nation to drive a structural economic transformation with an emphasis on improving both public and private sector efficiency. This is aimed at increasing national productivity and achieving sustainable diversification of production, to significantly grow the economy and achieve maximum welfare for the citizens, beginning with food and energy security."

The ERGP targets real GDP growth rate of 4.6 per cent on average over the period between 2017-2020. To achieve this, the government projects 2.19 GDP growth rate in 2017, up from -1.5 per cent recorded in 2016. The government forecasts that the economy will accelerate to 7 per cent GDP by 2020.   

In seeking a stable macroeconomic environment, the plan seeks to reduce inflation from 18.72 per cent recorded in January 2017 to single digit by 2020.

The outlook for the plan also includes investment in agriculture to drive food security and self-sufficiency in tomato paste, rice and wheat. As for the manufacturing sector, which contracted by 4.32 per cent last year, the ERGP aims to grow the sector by 8.5 per cent annual growth rate over the period of the plan.

The ERGP aims to achieve 10,000 MW of operational power capacity by 2020, while also improving the energy mix.

The plan has a meagre outlook for reducing unemployment from 13.9 per cent as of Q3 2016 to 11.23 per cent by 2020. In other words, the government plans to create 15 million jobs over the next four years.

The ERGP is underpinned by a new approach built on six strategies. 1) a Delivery Unit is being established in the Presidency to drive the implementation of key ERGP priorities. 2)  Ramping up oil production to 2.5mbpd by 2020, and privatizing selected public enterprises/assets. 3) The ERGP will strengthen the successful components of previous development plans like the National Industrial Revolution Plan, and the Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan. 4) Strengthening partnership between the public and private sectors. 5) Ensuring budgets are properly aligned with planning. 6) Effective collaboration and coordination between the federal government and States. 


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