The World Bank has commended the Federal Government’s decision to prioritise support for the poor and vulnerable citizens in the country in its 2016 budget.
Mr Foluso Okunmadewa, the bank’s Lead Specialist on Social Protection and Labour, made the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
“What government has done both at the executive and the legislative levels is quiet encouraging and it shows a very great commitment to the plight of the poor in this country.
“Such that even when government revenue is dwindling and there are not enough resources to go to different areas, government is prioritising support to the poor.
“This is something that we have been clamouring for as international agencies for a very long time and it is happening now even beyond what we ordinarily would have recommended,” Okunmadewa said.
According to him, the N500 billion approved by the legislators for social protection and safety net is about nine per cent of the budget and about 30 per cent of the capital expenditure.
He said, “this goes to conditional cash transfer, school feeding, supporting unemployed graduates by giving them employment opportunities to market women and the like.
“The most significant part of it is the one that goes to the poor in terms of cash transfer based on some co-responsibilities, so this is very encouraging.”
According to Okunmadewa, the World Bank commends the move by the government and will put in some programmes and assistance in addition to what is already on ground.
“We have a 500 million dollars support to social protection programme which 70 per cent of that will go to the cash transfer and will go directly to the poor,” he said.
He further said that the programme would go a long way in addressing poverty and vulnerability issues in the country.(NAN)