Stakeholders at Nairametrics Quarter 3 Microeconomic Outlook have pointed out stark realities of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, where they advanced their assessments of the impacts of the various government’s policies so far.
In a webinar attended by financial and economic experts and stakeholders, they agreed that while the Federal Government had good intentions in initial policies, the outcome had been short of expectations.
Ugodre Obi-Chukwu, the founder of Nairametrics, in his opening speech, said the government, from inception, came up with measures under renewed hope to impact the economy, noting that such measures as fuel subsidy removal, forex reforms and interest rate hikes have also impacted on the economy in ways not expected. For example, the reality checks show that the policies have also led to massive forex depreciation, high inflation and exit of multinationals, weak purchasing power and japa syndrome.
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However, Mr Tope Fasua, the Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Economic Affairs, while admitting the reality on ground in terms of the economy, said the government had introduced several measures to address the issues raised.
He said; “Public sector reforms are already ongoing in Nigeria right now. Some MDAs are already getting memos from the president on how they can merge and this is part of the promised Orosanya Report implementation the government promised,” he said.
“Look at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; they could have been separate three ministries but they are one and it is part of the public sector reforms of the current administration,” he said.
Meanwhile Mr. Fasua listed more policies introduced by the current government in order to ensure stability in the living standard to include students loan, consumer credit scheme, N35,000 wage awards, conditional cash transfers, foreign exchange reforms, bank capitalisation, halting intervention funds, power sector reforms, digital economic strategy, infrastructure projects (Lagos-Calabar coastal Highway, as well as waivers and civil s service reforms, among others.
Speaking on public financing under President Tinubu, Dr Muda Yusuf, the immediate past Director General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said one of the areas the present administration could handle the economy is to address tax and fiscal reforms.
“Tax and fiscal reforms will impact positively on public financing. In the first quarter of the present administration, we didn’t see so much in this area but I think in this second quarter, we have seen more improvement in public financing.
“But having a fifty percent debt-to-GDP ratio is something we should worry about and if you recall subsidy was practically removed in the start of the present administration but it has also returned.
“I will suggest that the government must cut down on expenditure and also step down on projects that do not bear immediate economic significance,” he said.
On his own, Dr Olusegun Omisakin, the Chief Economist and Director of Research and Development at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), said the current administration has some gains and misses in the past one year, saying some of the policies of the present administration looks good.
He noted that the impact of some policies of the government does not manifest in a shot while, regretting that most of the sectors that should drive the economy do not have the capacity to drive employment.
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He said no matter the policies put forward by the government, some sectors are dragging the country down, saying there is no need to embark on long term policy formulations and implementations if the nation cannot address the short term challenges.
Assessing the present administration’s infrastructural and security efforts after one year, Dr Segun Zaccheaus, a partner and lead for Pricewatwrhouse Coopers (PWC), admitted the inadequacies of the present administration but said one year is not enough to assess the present government in infrastructure, explaining that what the Tinubu administration did at inception was to take quicker bold steps to address those things that could drive investment.
He noted that for insecurity, the government hadn’t done so much, however admitting that the menace is a systemic issue in Nigeria.
Speaking on the president’s drive towards attracting investors into the country, Professor Ogunlana Olanrewaju Fatai, the Acting Head of Department of Economics at the Lagos State University, said Tinubu had done well in this regard, regretting though that the results of his regular travels abroad hadn’t produced the required result. He charged the present to ensure sustained funding of educational, health and energy sectors, even as he praised the present administration on human capital development.
Professor Fatai charged the president to channel part of the money saver through fuel subsidy removal to education in order to shore up infrastructure in the ivory towers.
On the issue of minimum wage, Ms Hauwa Mustapha, a Development Policy Analyst and Senior Research Officer at Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said given the enormous resources in the country, the government could pay the clamoured N250,000 minimum wage. She regretted that there was huge inequality in the country.
She questioned the policy focus of the present administration, saying the much talked-about tax reforms only targets the workers, neglecting the main area it should focus.
“The tax reform will hardly target vital areas where we have leakages but it will focus on the workers whose taxes are deducted form source.
“Don’t look at the N250,000 as a figure; break it down in the economy where food inflation has gone up more than 40% and this is it to talk of other expenses like the children school fees,” she said.
Professor Fatai, while speaking on students loan as part of the present administration’s interventions, said it would be difficult to effectively implement and sustain the policy, saying government spending, as of today, cannot sustain funding of tertiary education in the country.
“Will student loan be sustainable? Will it not be influenced by corruption? Will it not be influenced by bias and all that?
“Truth is that government revenue has been affected by a number of factors and they include corruption and lack of transparency.
“The loopholes in government earnings cannot help to sustain effective funding of education in Nigeria,” he said.
