President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the Presidential Committee on the impact of Convid-19 to ensure that the business of government continues to run as much as possible.
He also directed that the committee should consult widely and return to him next week with more details on what to do.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who is the chairperson of the Committee made this known after the Committee’s meeting with the President to present its interim report.
“This committee that has been set up by the president to review the impact of Covid-19 as well as the crash of the crude oil price had a short meeting with the President in which we filed an interim report.
“The president has directed that we should consult and come back to him with an update next week.
“What we have been mandated to do is to ensure that the business of government continues to run as much as possible, normally.
“The government agencies are funded and that there must be continuous investments in critical infrastructure that would ensure continuous growth and also concentrate on programmes and projects that will enhance employment of our people.”
Ahmed said the committee is working hard to ensure that government revenue is stabilised as well as making sure state governments do not starve.
“We are looking at ways and means in which the revenue of government will be stabilised and that we are able to fund the states through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) process at a level that is averagely expected and planned for in both the federal and the national budgets,” she added.
The minister expressed the hope that if they finished their consultations next week, they would be expecting some approvals from the president.
