For the country’s economy to experience accelerated recovery from the current recession, the government would need to give priority attention in the 2021 budget to the development of key sectors, namely electricity, health, and education, an investment expert has said.
An investment expert and Chief Executive Officer of Ogu Investment, Moses Igbrude said in Lagos on Thursday that focusing attention on the development of the electricity sector would boost productivity and grow the economy out of the current recession.
Specifically, Mr Igbrude urged the government to pay particular attention to the improvement of the electricity transmission system in the country, describing it as about the weakest link in the country’s power supply value chain.
He advised the government to sustain the Siemens power deal to scale up the country’s power generation and accelerate the industrialization of the economy.
Similarly, he said the government should expedite action on the implementation of the 2021 budget’s allocations to the health care sector to contain the COVID-19 health pandemic.
“We expect the funds to enhance the capacity of the federal health institutions to tackle the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is important, as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has surged and a threat to a healthy workforce in the implementation of the government policies,” he said.
In addition, he said the education sector should also be given extra consideration in the implementation of the 2021 budget because it is the nation’s best resource.
On December 31, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill of N13.6trillion into law.
The president’s action followed the passage of the Appropriation Bill by the National Assembly earlier on December 21, 2020 during an emergency session convened specially for that purpose.
On October 8, 2020 when the President presented the proposed budget to the National Assembly for appropriation, he said the objective was to accelerate the pace of the Nigerian economic recovery, promote diversification, enhance competitiveness and ensure social inclusion.
In giving assent to the Appropriation Act, the President said his expectation was to, among other things, stimulate domestic economic activities and create employment opportunities, especially for the youth to contribute to the recovery of the economy. MEDIATRACNET
