An Economist and Director of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Management, Esili Eigbe, commenting on the Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP) by Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said Nigeria has a lot of plans on paper but execution is the challenge.
Speaking on ARISE TV programme on Thursday, Eigbe said the economic stability plan lacks a revenue increase strategy which would aid debt reduction in the country.
In the area of tackling Inflation, he explained that what Nigeria significantly lacks is “fiscal action.”
He stated that the ASAP economic plan came out “late in the game” but “hopefully it will complement the monetary policies and address the inflation in the country, although it’s not going be an overnight job, it will take years.”
Eigbe said, “Nigeria is not void of plans, we have a lot of plans on paper, and where the challenge has been is in political will and execution.”
But Eigbe said the 65 page proposal lacks an elaborate plan to significantly increase government revenue. “Nigeria is at a cliff, we cannot continue to depend on borrowing. Nigeria is currently over N100 trillion in debt.”
He said a significant place that government should see revenue from is in oil output.
“The budget for 2024 was about 1.8 barrels per day, whoch we haven’t been close to. The average for the year will probably be around 1.3-1.4 which is below the line.”
The document talked about a couple of other things like restarting the National Social Investment Program through biometrics, conditional transfer of cash to the most vulnerable snd investment in digital and creative enterprise for 2 million youth by 2027.
He stated, “These ideas are important especially the direct transfers of cash to the most vulnerable but it will depend a lot on government funding.”
He pointed out that the issue of minimum wage is important but “wages generally in the civil service aren’t talked about. Our civil service household are among the poorest in our society, if you’re saying that minimum wage today is 30,000 and you want to take it to 60,000, that is not sustainable.”
Eigbe applauded “ASAP” for seeking to address how stability in the economy can be provided, because this is crucial for the blooming of businesses in Nigeria.
He encouraged the minister to incorporate some things into his plan, like how to reduce corporate taxes, increase tax reforms and tackle security issues.
