Fidelia Okafor.

Nigeria has set new measures on the platform of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to recover the economy from recession.

Budget and National Planning minister Udo Udoma announced the measures on Monday at a forum involving the government and the private sector.

The new plan would enable Nigeria to attain a minimum GDP growth rate of 7 per cent within the plan’s period

The programme which was drawn after wide consultation, would be implemented between 2017 and 2020, he said.

According to him, some of the 34 key actions selected for immediate implementation were already yielding results, especially the reforms in agriculture and solid minerals.

He said the government would tackle the constraints to growth and noted that Nigeria’s growth faced various supply constraints including fuel, power, foreign exchange and unfriendly regulations.

Strategies were being designed to overcome the bottlenecks that impeded growth in the past.

The minister also pointed out that government would leverage on the private sector, adding that economic recovery and transformative growth cannot be achieved by the government alone.

“Economic recovery and transformative growth cannot be achieved by the government alone.

“It is essential to harness the entrepreneurial nature of Nigerians from the MSMEs to the large domestic and multinational corporations.”
The principles of the plan, he explained included promotion of national cohesion and social inclusion and non-interference with markets.

“We recognise the power of markets to drive optimal behaviour among market participants.

“The plan prioritises the use of markets as a means of resource allocation where possible and supporting a more business friendly economic environment.’’

He said that the overall aim of the plan was to have an economy with low inflation, a stable exchange rate, and diversified and inclusive growth.