2017 budget can’t make much impact on economy – Osinbajo

 Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday put the figure of the 2017 Appropriation Bill yet to be presented to the National Assembly at about N7tn.

However, he said the budget size was not big enough to make a huge difference in the nation’s economy.

Osinbajo, who is the Chairman of the Economic Management Team, spoke during a tour of some firms in Sagamu, Ogun State, on Thursday.

A transcript of his speech at one of the firms was made available to journalists by his spokesman, Mr. Laolu Akande.

The Vice-President said the private sector had a big role to play in the Nigerian economy while the Federal Government would only support.

According to him, the Federal Government believes that there is no way of delivering on its economic agenda without a serious partnership with the private sector.

He said, “Our entire budget size for 2016 is something in the order of just over N6tn and we will probably be moving to about N7tn in the 2017 budget.

“But N7tn is certainly not the kind of money, it does sound like a fair amount of money, but certainly, it is not the kind of size that can really make a huge difference in a N90tn  economy such as we have.

“So, the real issue is that, the contribution of the Federal Government is catalytic. The Federal Government can only make some catalytic contributions in terms of infrastructure, and some incentives for the private sector.

“The real contribution is going to come from the private sector and that is why these partnerships are absolutely important to us, and what we are looking at is some game-changing type of projects, such as we have here. The type of projects that can make the real difference.”

Osinbajo said the current administration had been stressing the importance of agriculture because it could employ a lot of people.

He said the government had decided to partner business outfits that could make the difference.

He assured the organised private sector of all the supports the Federal Government could offer.

“We certainly will be looking at all of the various ways that we can assist by ensuring that this project comes to conclusion in very reasonable time, and that we are able to take advantage of the benefits as quickly as possible,” he said.