Nigeria triples investment in 2016 budget

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled Tuesday a budget that triples investment spending in a bid to stimulate growth and lower the dependence of Africa’s largest economy on oil.

Despite the plunging price of oil, Nigeria’s main revenue source, Buhari vowed to increase spending by about 20 percent from this year to 6.08 trillion naira (around $30 billion, 27 billion euros).
Investment will be a major beneficiary, more than tripling to account for 30 percent of total spending.

“We believe that this budget, while helping industry, commerce and investment to pick up, will as a matter of urgency, addresses the immediate problems of youth unemployment and the terrible living conditions of the extremely poor and vulnerable Nigerians,” Buhari told the joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja.

He said that critical infrastructure like power and housing would get 433.4 billion naira, while transport was allocated 202 billion.
Investments in security and defence are also to be stepped up as the country fights Boko Haram jihadists in the north of the country.

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