COVID-19: FG to Secure $750m World Bank Loan for States

As part of efforts to mitigate the effect of Covid-19, the federal government is in the process of securing a $750 million World Bank loan on behalf of the states disclosureof the federation’s muumu, to help stimulate the local economy and support consumption by vulnerable households.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed made the disclosure in Abuja, Friday while inaugurating the Federal Steering Committee and Federal Technical Committee of the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery for Economic Stimulus (N-CARES).

The Federal Steering Committee is made up of ministers and permanent secretaries as well while the Technical Committee is made up of directors of key ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

The minister explained that to ensure that the implementation of the N-CARES is in line with the federal government’s priorities as outlined in the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), the Federal Steering Committee made up of ministers and permanent secretaries as well as a Technical Committee made up of directors of key MDAs have to be in place.

Ahmed noted that the government had carefully selected members of the committees because of the important role their MDAs play in the recovery of the Nigerian economy as well as the fulfillment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise of lifting 100 million people out of poverty.

She stated: ” The diverse and severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt across the world with significant consequences on informal businesses, and households that survive on daily income and the peasant farmers who depend on their farm produce to survive.