As part of efforts to properly mitigate the effects of Coronavirus the federal government on Monday approved the withdrawal of $150 million dollars from the Sovereign Wealth Fund to be distributed to the 3-tiers off government.
The disclosure was made by the minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed in Abuja, during an interaction with newsmen.
Ahmed disclosed that the money is to be taken from the stabilization fund component of the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The fund is presently being managed by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA.
According to the finance minister, the need to withdraw the amount was to cushion the negative impact of the drop in revenue of the federation account.
Zainab said, since January, revenue inflows into the account has witnessed a decline, a situation that has affected the amount.
She also added that the government would be approaching international finance institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank among others to seek an additional fund to tackle the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigeria.
Buhari had last month set up a Special Ministerial Task Force to seek ways and advise on the general economic outlook, stimulus plans, and packages to save the Nigerian economy.
The Task Force headed by Ahmed is made up of the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba; Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emiefele, and the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari.
The worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the international oil price fall had led to an urgent call by many countries to find ways to keep their different economies from recession.