VP of Nigeria
The National Economic Council (NEC), on Thursday, outlined plans to inject larger funds into the economy, with a view to revitalising it.
Rising from a meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the council revealed that the Economic Management Team (EMT) was working on plan to generate immediate larger injection of fund into the economy.
Briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the council, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, joined by his Kebbi State counterpart, Abubakar Bagudu and the Ogun State deputy governor, Yetunde Onanuga, said this would be achieved through asset sales and advance payment of license renewals.
Other areas he mentioned were infrastructure concession, use of recovered funds to reduce funding gaps, implementation of Fiscal Stimulus/Budget Priorities, fast-track procedures through legislation and implementation of Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) of the budget, cutting down on importation and meaningful diversification of the economy.
The council received presentation on Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative on affordable housing whose highlights suggested a target of N1 billion fund to operate PPP with N500 billion initial to create a blended pool of long term funds to intervene in housing development finance and mortgage provision.
Ajimobi disclosed that the fund aimed to deliver family housing priced from as low as N2.5 million up to N18 million delivered in a ready to occupy condition, with essential services (water and power connected).
He said the delivery target was 400,000 to 500,000 housing units per annum.
According to him, the ultimate aim of the programme was to channel funds from savers to borrowers, so that builders had the required capital to construct and prospective buyers could access credit to purchase.
The governor said the fund would attract low cost local and international capital, including from domestic pension and insurance funds, Federal Government funding, as well as contributions from state governments and other agencies.
He said states would designate a liaison with whom Family Homes Fund could interface, expedite building plan approval process and security of land title and invest in enabling infrastructure, including federal roads.
Ajimobi added that other benefits of the programme were improved urban planning and development, employment generation and skills enhancement and expansion of tax base.
NEC also received draft regulations on Land Use Act, 2013 from the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Use Reform (PTCLR).
The Land Use Act seeks to make provisions to streamline mortgage transactions and clearly delineate the rights, duties and obligations of a mortgage.
Other aspects of the draft are: conditions for disposal of proceeds of sale and subsequent mortgages and implied terms of a mortgage, rights of redemption and remedies and issues on mortgage by companies and power of assignment by mortgage and right of transfer and application of insurance money by the receiver.
NEC also received report on the status of Excess Crude Account, which showed a balance of $2.453 billion as of September 20, 2016.
On the Budget Support Facility to state governments, NEC was briefed that N50 billion had, so far, been disbursed to state governments, adding that the facility was ongoing.
