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LAGOS, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday said his administration will focus on the rapid development of infrastructure, especially rail, roads and power in 2017.
The president said this while presenting the 2017 Appropriation Bill before the joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja, the nation's capital.
The Nigerian leader presented a budget of 7.30 trillion naira (23 billion U.S dollars) for 2017 aimed at pulling the economy out of recession as quickly as possible.
According to him, 30.7 percent of the 2017 budget, would be committed to capital expenditure.
He said, having reviewed the trends in the global oil industry, the government had decided to set a benchmark price of 42.5 dollars per barrel and a production estimate of 2.2 million barrels per day for 2017 fiscal year.
According to him, the aggregated revenue available to fund the 2017 is 4.94 trillion naira, 28 percent higher than the 2016 budget.
He said efforts to fast-track the modernization of the country's railway system is a priority in the 2017 budget, noting that a lot of progress getting the necessary studies updated and financing arrangements completed were made in 2016.
"We also addressed some of the legacy contractor liabilities inherited to enable us to move forward on a clean slate. Many of these tasks are not visible but are very necessary for sustainability of projects. Nigerians will soon begin to see the tangible benefits in 2017," he added.
The Nigerian leader assured that his administration was determined to ensure a departure from dependence on imported goods to locally made products.
Buhari said he would ensure a new era where Nigerians consumed locally made products.
"Our food, our clothing, our manufacturing inputs, our fuel and much more. In the past 18 months when we experienced low oil prices, we saw our foreign exchange earnings cut by about 60 percent," he added.
According to him, his administration will work on growing, processing local food as well as refine petroleum products locally.
He added that small scale business men and women would be encouraged by creating enabling environment for their products to be patronized.
President Buhari said the true drivers of the country's economic future were farmers, small and medium sized manufacturers, agro-allied businesses, dressmakers, entertainers and technology start-ups.
According to him, they are the engine of imminent economic recovery, adding that their needs underpin the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. Enditem
