Nigeria’s minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed has disclosed that the federal government is considering giving out stipends to people affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The finance minister disclosed this while speaking during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Saturday.
According to her, “We have a number of fiscal incentives that we have thought through and designed but we have to do a couple of engagements before we announce them because of our fragile fiscal situation.
“We don’t want to rush and make announcements of tax cuts or tax holidays without looking at the full picture of how it affects the federal government, states and how it affects businesses.
“The government is looking at the possibility of giving out stipends, increasing the stipends that it giving out to the category of Nigerians that are classified as poor and vulnerable.
“Also, we are looking at the category of citizens that have been affected by the nature of their jobs by this pandemic. For example, airports are closed so people who run taxi services at the airport will be at home with nothing to do. So we have to carefully identify the groups that will get these interventions. We are also not forgetting businesses.”
In addition, the minister said the government is trying to see which method it will use in sharing the funds and ensuring the impact is felt by Nigerians.
