30/03/2011 (THISDAY Live) - The Federal Government Tuesday released a plan that would see Nigeria produce locally for domestic consumption and export some of the commodities that are currently imported into the country. A three to four years target has been set for the actualisation of the aside plan, beginning from this year.

This came as the government  disclosed that a committee headed by Professor Anya O. Anya, set up by the Finance Minister, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, to review the 2011 budget as passed by the National Assembly has submitted its report to him and would  also make a presentation next week.

Aganga, who unveiled the plan to the organised private sector (OPS) at an interactive session in Lagos Tuesday, said under the programme, the government intends to achieve local production and export of commodities such as refined petroleum, rice, fertiliser and palm oil, among others.

He said incentives were planned for 16 economic sectors to boost their business and operating environment, pointing out that four food products had been identified for development and which could save Nigeria about $3billion annually in external reserves, over the next three years.

Speaking on the theme: “Government’s Initiatives Towards Creating Opportuni-ties for Corporates to Access Stable Capital,” Aganga disclosed that already about eight firms had disclosed their intention to build fertiliser plants in the country, while three companies were preparing to set up oil refineries.

“We are talking to two or three companies that plan to build three oil refineries in strategic locations in the country,” he said.
He also stated that a total of 331 organisations had submitted Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to invest in the power sector, adding that the Federal Government had also identified 65 infrastructure projects for development using the budget, in the areas of ports, roads and rail system, among others.

However, the minister noted that following the  Anya-led committee’s presentation  to him on the budget, the government would open further dialogue with the lawmakers to harmonise areas of disagreement.

Aganga also stated that with the enforcement of fiscal prudence by generating the data of every employee in 16 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) the government had saved N12 billion on the public service pay roll.
In order to ensure that the development targets were achieved, the minister explained that there had been fiscal reforms, innovations in the budgeting system, special programmes to develop the real economy, plans for establishing the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) as well as effective monetary policy in the past seven to eight months.

The programmes, he said, included the diversification of the country’s revenue base, the enhancement of the quality of spending, the strengthening of institutions and the facilitating of long term capital to the private sector.
According to the minister, local development financial institutions (DFIs) such as the agricultural  bank, the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) and the Bank of Industry (BoI) were undergoing restructuring to enable them to meet the challenges of financing critical economic sectors.

“We see high level growth in sectors such as telecoms, solid minerals and real estate that achieved double digit growth in 2010, besides agriculture that employs over 60 per cent of the workforce. We are looking at our laws. For instance, the Land Use Act and the Evidence Act and are also working towards the establishment of three commercial courts to check the reluctance of banks to lend to the private sector,” he said.

On quality fiscal spending and ensuring that the budget accelerates the realisation of the 20:20 20 Vision,  the minister stated that the Federal Government was pursuing fiscal consolidation through various means including ensuring that every spending is on the right thing and at a reduced cost. He added that the objective  was also pursued at the sub-national levels.

“The government considers the impact of every spending on employment generation likewise the ministries, departments and Agencies (MDAs). The school curriculum is undergoing review so that any person passing out through the system would have learnt at least two skills. Enterprise centres are planned for the universities and government is partnering the banks to support lending to small businesses,” he said.

Director General of the DMO, Dr Abraham Nwankwo, in a presentation on “Government Groundwork in the Domestic and International Capital Market,” urged the private sector to take advantage of the $500 million Eurobond issued last year to seek long term capital from the international market as a way of jumpstarting private sector-led growth and development of the economy.