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Minister of budget and national planning, Atiku Bagudu, has said that Nigeria is going through a financial crisis and that the government is just managing to pay salaries.
Bagudu lamented the slow economic growth rate in the face of a fast increasing population, surging unemployment and high inflation.
The minister stated these at the 30th Annual Development Forum organised by the Live Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) in Abuja yesterday.
Bagudu, who was represented by the director, Bilateral Economic Cooperation in the Ministry, Dr Sampson Ebimaro, called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help the government to cover the spaces it could not.
The minister said, “Government faces enormous challenges especially now; the government is facing a revenue deficit. There is no money anywhere in the country; the government is just managing to pay salaries.
“The growth rate is very slow and the population growth is fast pacing and increasing. Unemployment is surging in the midst of high inflation.”