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The federal government has said
that it will inject N350 billion budgeted expenditure to revamp the Nigerian
economy in the next few months. It will equally work in collaboration with the
state governments to adopt a plan for the gradual increase of value added tax
(VAT) on goods and services.
These were some of the
decisions taken at the end of a two-day retreat for governors of the 36 states
of the federation and members of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the
Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The Nigerian economy has been
hit by dwindling crude oil prices, leading to a shortage of foreign exchange, a
shrinking economy and spiraling inflation, which have all impacted on the
standard of living and impeded the ability of several state governments to pay
the salaries of their workers.
Briefing State House
correspondents at the end of the retreat, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi
Adeosun, who was joined by the Minister of Budget and National Planning,
Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, Zamfara State Governor, Mr. Abdul’aziz Yari and his
Anambra State counterpart, Mr. Willie Obiano, said part of the funds would
assist in the payment of local contractors who had laid off their staff due to
lack of funds.