Udoma: We’ll set up taskforce, delivery unit for recovery plan

The Federal Government plans to set up a delivery unit and a taskforce to drive the process of implementing the recently launched National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (NERGP).

Speaking at a media parley held in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, said the Federal Government is also working on a detailed implementation roadmap that would spell out timelines for deliverables and how the targets set in the NERGP would be achieved.

The minister said the roadmap for implementation would also include details of costs of achieving the targets.

The NERGP is a four-year plan designed to pull Nigeria out of recession and reposition the economy for sustained, inclusive and expansionary growth.

Udoma said the delivery unit for the NERGP would be manned by a special team and domiciled in the Presidency and would be tasked with the function of coordinating the implementation of the plan to ensure synergy among implementing agencies.

He said the taskforce would be responsible for monitoring the implementation and filling in feedback.

The minister said in the short term, the Federal Government intended to release quick funds from sales of assets to expand the economy and in the long term, the tax base would be expanded and there would be more efficiency in tax collection, customs collection and accountability in revenue collection by agencies. 

He said the aim was to increase tax collection ratio to GDP from the current 6 per cent to 15 per cent, which would in turn triple revenues to shrink debt-to-GDP ratio.

He said the focus of the present administration is to generate more revenues to pump money into the economy to have expansionary effect on all sectors of the economy.