The Federal Government has so far disbursed a total of N220.5 billion budget support facility to 35 states.
Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar said Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun dropped the hint at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday during the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.
Abubakar disclosed this to State House correspondents after the NEC meeting which was chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The governor quoted Adeosun as telling the NEC that last month, the Federal Government disbursed N1.1 billion budget support loan facility to 35 states.
He said the minister disclosed that this made it a total of N6.3 billion disbursed to each of the 35 benefiting states.
The conditional budget support facility was designed earlier this year to provide financial relief to state governments.
The facility is based on the implementation of a comprehensive 22-point Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) that was unanimously agreed upon by state governors during the NEC meeting on May 19, 2016.
The programme is aimed at supporting states to overcome current fiscal challenges as well as reforming financial management to ensure their long-term viability.
In another development, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, yesterday made a presentation to the NEC on financing opportunities critical for the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMES).
He said the CBN’s involvement in MSMEs was to increase lending, provide access to affordable credit facility, diversify the country’s economic base, create jobs, improve micro-economic stability, boost the capacity of MSMEs, conserve foreign exchange reserve, encourage export as well as expand agriculture and manufacturing.
According to Emefiele, the CBN has a fund for such purposes in excess of N200 billion meant to provide affordable loans to MSMEs.
In his own presentation to the NEC, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, put the total estimated number of MSMEs in Nigeria at 37,067,416.
According to him, Lagos State has the highest number of micro enterprises (3,224,324); followed by Oyo and Kano States (1,864,054) and (1,794,358) respectively; while Nasarawa State has the least (226).
Source: DAILY TRUST
