Nigeria’s economic challenges may be far from over as Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said the size of the 2017 budget was not big enough to make a significant difference in the nation’s economy. He put the figure of the 2017 Appropriation Bill yet to be presented to the National Assembly at about N7trillion.
Osinbajo who is the Chairman of the Economic Management Team spoke during a tour of some firms in Sagamu, Ogun State on Thursday.
A transcript of his speech at one of the firms was made available to journalists by his spokesman, Laolu Akande.
The Vice-President said the private sector has a big role to play in the nation’s economy while the Federal Government will only serve as a catalyst.
According to him, the Federal Government believes that there is no way of delivering on its economic agenda without a serious partnership with the private sector.
He said, “Our entire budget size for 2016 is something in the order of just over N6trillion and we will probably be moving to about N7 trillion in the 2017 budget.
“But N7 trillion is certainly not the kind of money, it does sound like a fair amount of money, but certainly, it is not the kind of size that can really make a huge difference in a N90trillion economy such as we have.”
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