Nigeria’s general election has just been concluded and now, the elected officials will be looking to improve the state of affairs once their administration commences. The generation of income revenue is one area that has witnessed immense dilapidation over the years and the new government would be expected to change this situation. Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, the Director General of the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association has in an interview, weighed in on this national challenge.
On the measures that the incoming administration can put in place to further improve the economic condition, he noted that fundamental issues like the fiscal and monetary policies, explaining that this could not be overemphasized, as it was the bedrock on which most structures have been built. He noted that the problem that has ravaged the country over the last eight years was a deliberate misalignment in context of the fiscal and monetary policies and if this situation is not improved, it automatically affect the entire economy. Also, the issue of revenue for the government was indicated. Oyerinde stated that while we were one of the biggest exporter of oil in Africa, our capacity to meet the quota of OPEC has been compromised by factors like oil theft that have consequently affected the economy.
Bad economy due to the cross purposes of fiscal and monetary authorities.
He indicated that it was impossible to execute monetary policy without deliberately aligning the fiscal policy, pointing out that the country had faced numerous economic challenges recently as a result of the cross purposes of the fiscal and monetary authorities. In curbing this situation, Oyerinde stated that it boiled down to the incoming president’s appointment of the Minister of Finance and CBN Governor. He further explained that the fiscal and monetary authorities must complement themselves in a bid to help the incoming president achieve his economic objectives.
When asked about his position on the enacted Naira redesign policy which has resulted in a major cash crunch across the country, and the best solution in resolving this huge controversy, Oyerinde said that with the drivers of the cashless policy such as the online banking system, money agents and POS, it was imperative for the government to work on audits for ascertaining the sufficiency of the present online systems in working for all Nigerians at the same time. He admitted that although the policy was a laudable one, the sensitization process could have been better handled.
Health and Education disclosed as foreign exchange leakages in Nigeria.
As an effect of the harsh cash redesign situation, Oyerinde admitted that numerous businesses had gone into extinction. According to him, many startups had crashed in the MSMEs industry as a result of the policy. The NECA Director General again indicated that inclusive participation in the economy was a significant measure of ensuring immense development in the economic industry. This inclusiveness, he said, must commence with the stakeholders’ inputs in the policy formulation process, as it would be significant for building national consensus.
It was disclosed that the foreign exchange leakages in Nigeria included health and education. These institutions, Oyerinde explained, were the biggest consumers of foreign exchange. Thus, he said there was a need to review the educational system and reduce the propensity for Nigerians traveling abroad to study. On the issue of power supply, he said it was a multidimensional challenge and urged the government to make efforts to salvaging the challenge, as no country could experience overt development without adequate power supply.
Government must focus on technical training to maximally curb corruption.
Oyerinde criticized the government for their failure at managing refineries and waiting for the Dangote Refinery to commence its operations. He stated that while the Ukraine-Russia conflict had caused an increase in the prices of crude oil and many OPEC countries were massively cashing in on this development, Nigeria was losing its gains to subsidy. On enhancing productivity for the creation of employment, it was disclosed that NECA was working to mitigate this challenge through the establishment of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF)/NECA Skill Development Project. Director urged the government to improve its focus on technical and vocational trainings, as it would help in maximally curb unemployment.
Related Link
IMF: Website
Incoming govt must address income revenues. – Misalignment of the fiscal and monetary policies are affecting the economy. – Express your point of view.
Our revenues are very important. We need to generate more to have a very good economy. We should also monitor them well. And also managing the revenues with utmost care.
Thank God that thre new government is anticipated to fix a problem with revenue generating that has deteriorated greatly over the years.
the country’s recent economic difficulties might be traced back to the budgetary and monetary authorities working at cross-purposes, since monetary policy could not be conducted without the purposeful alignment of the fiscal policy.
Our revenue is most important part to generate a lot. New government must address a lot on it.
Our revenue in the country is actually getting bleak because of the lack of utilization and maintaining the resources and that is something that must change if we want to survive.
Our federal government intervention is needed to make things work, as no nation can achieve noticeable expansion without sufficient power supplies.
Our revenue structure must be address well so we can be generating more revenue that will be sustaining our country rather than go and be borrowing money
Yes ooo once the new administration are sweared in they are expected to raise the level at which revenue are being generated in country.
Incoming govt must address income revenues. Okay we are waiting for them and their policy and plan for Nigeria
The new administration needs to work towards improving the whole country economy to ease our livings.
The main focus should be on revamping the economy through the revenue generations from diversified means and industry.
Our income is crucial to our success. A thriving economy requires more production. And it’s on us to keep a close eye on them. As well as meticulously overseeing the money coming in.
We need to fix our revenue system so that we can stop borrowing money and start bringing in enough money to keep the government running.
The economic downfall has really affected every area and sector in the country. it is mandatory the incoming address income revenue to improve the economic condition.
It’s important incoming government carefully address income revenues. Recent economic difficulties in the nation were brought on by the fiscal and monetary authorities working against one another.
The deliberate mismatch of fiscal and monetary policy was the root of the crisis that has plagued the nation for the past eight years, and if this scenario is not resolved, it will immediately have an impact on the entire economy.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that our country’s revenue is in jeopardy due to insufficient usage and maintenance of available resources.
The Misalignment of the fiscal and monetary policies affecting that is affecting nation stems from the high level of corruption in the country. First, the incoming government should be ready to curb corruption if they want to effectively align the fiscal and monetary policies and secondly, they must do the needful to revive the economy of the nation.
Is it the problem that the current administration can’t handle will the incoming government handle? The Misalignment of the fiscal and monetary policies didn’t start with this administration. It will be a major achievement if they can successful address the income revenue.