The federal government has released N285bn for capital projects from the 2020 budget.
The Minister of Finance/Budget/National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this in Abuja on Friday.
Ahmed spoke after a meeting with Buhari at the State House.
“So, as of Tuesday this week, we have released N285bn to a number of agencies. We prioritise the releases to the critical infrastructure agencies.
“But, we have also made the releases for education as well as health. So, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Works and Housing, Niger Delta; a number of ministries and agencies that have important infrastructure projects have got their funds”, she added.
She added that another $220m was released as counterpart funding for railway projects by the ministry of transportation.
The budget is now facing implementation challenges amid the crash in crude oil prices owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Asked whether Nigeria’s reluctance to suspend flights to and from high-risk countries was to due the effects it might have on the economy, Ahmed replied that it was the government’s medical team that would decide if a ban or suspension was necessary.
“As far as I know, the assessment of the Nigerian medical team is not yet available, and as far as I know, the international community has been commending the efforts of the Nigerian medical team in trying to protect Nigerians from being infected with this disease…
“So, we will manage the economy by prioritising what we can do during the period that there will be slow activities so that when things pick up, everything will go back to normal”, she added.