BUDGETED N160 BILLION FOR CONSUMER CREDIT AND STUDENT LOANS BY THE FG

According to the Federal Government, the 2024 budget allocated a total of N160 billion for the implementation of the Student Loan Scheme and the Consumer Credit Scheme.

At a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, revealed the information.

He described the consumer credit program as a catalytic fund that is projected to expand and said that N100 billion had been granted to it in order to enhance Nigerians’ capability and revitalize the manufacturing sector that supplies goods and services to the country’s citizens.

Additionally, Bagudu disclosed that N50 billion and N10 billion, respectively, have been allocated for the student loan program in the signed budget and supplemental budget.

“We believe that our students should have an additional option,” he said.

According to the minister, the government is now in consultation with pertinent parties over the specifics of the loan scheme’s implementation.

He said that the reason the payment had not yet been made was because of the slow-moving national procurement system, which takes at least three months to finish before the budget item is implemented.

Bagudu also thought that if a large number of people could afford to pay for products and services over time, the economy would eventually take off.