Abuja- The Federal Ministry of Finance has on Thursday said that the capital releases in 2016 alone exceeded N1.2 trillion as the 2016 budget closes.
This is as it noted that the N1.2 trillion is in line with Government’s increased focus on capital expenditure.
In a breakdown of the releases made, it was noted that Power, Works and Housing received the largest allocation of N307,411,749,682, followed by Defence and Security, N171,900,597,013 and Transport and Aviation, N143,121,925,241.
Other sectors were Agriculture, Water Resources, Education and Health. These sectors accounted for 62 per cent of total capital released.
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said: “Despite the challenges in 2016, the Federal Government was able to achieve fully cash-backed capital releases of N1.2 trillion, which is a reflection of our commitment to infrastructure development”.
She also stressed that the government focused its capital spend on priority sectors to stimulate economic activities and job creation, adding that it intends to attract private capital to compliment Government spending in these key areas.
Meanwhile, Adeosun clarified that these capital releases exclude the capital element in releases to statutory agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Judiciary.
