By Amaka Abayomi
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, has attributed the 7.85 per cent econo-mic growth witnessed in Nigeria to the global economic recovery which impacted positively on the economy.

Speaking at the Debt Management Office organized interactive session with the Organised Private Sector, Aganga said the success of the Eurobond was as a result of the growth in the non oil sector which stabilized at 8.95 per cent in 2010 while the oil growth was 4.56 per cent.

“Global growth increased by 3.9 per cent and Nigeria, one of the fastest growing econo-mies, increased by 7.85 per cent due to strong domestic demand in developing economies.

“Fiscal policies were tailored to support economic growth while  ensuring macroeconomic stability and 2011 budget would focus on fiscal consolidation and job creation.

“Nigeria has a conser-vative debt position at 18 per cent of GDP which is lower than most other countries. External debt is $4.59bn while domes-tic debt is N4.55trn.”

The Minister pointed out that government would ensure that the inclusive growth would focus on job creation as N50bn was allocated in 2011 budget for public works while $500m was sourced for the financing of small and growing businesses.

“Until we address the issue of infrastructure, we can’t diversify the economy. To address it, we have identified the problems, proffered solutions and sought for funds.

What is remaining is implementing them.

“We have shifted on how we address the policy on infrastructure because before, govern-ment was required to fund infrastructural requirements and implementing. But privatization takes away much of the pressure on the capital projects.

“The reason for the PPP is because the level of implementation of projects is higher in the private sector than the public sector. We have identified about 65 projects in the rail, air and sea ports, roads, etc that we have to embark on in the next three years to transform the economy and the country.

“We have started some of them like the Abuja-Kaduna rail, the Lagos-Ibadan rail is almost completed and we are looking at the Lagos-Calabar rail.

“Government is working on the import substitution programme because we are an import dependant country. We have oil but spend a lot of money importing petroleum products, we have gas flaring all over the place but we spend a lot of money importing fertilizers, there are 68 million hectares of land that can be cultivated for farming but we are yet to cultivate half of that but still import food.

In his presentation on ‘Government’s Ground-work (Bondwise) in the Domestic & International Capital Markets’, the Director-General, Debt Management Office, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, said government bond has always been over-subscribed since 2005.

“Since 2005, govern-ment has gone to the market to raise money to fund fiscal gap and they have been over subscribed.

“Benefits of the bond include communicating Nigeria’s economic status and potentials to the international community, providing a benchmark for future borrowings, notably by the private sector, and facilitating inflow of Foreign Direct Investments.

“The value of the performance highlights is that they reflect enhancement of the enabling environment and access, for the private sector and the objective of using Bond Market activities to support the private sector will be sustained.