With much attention given to two of the three pillars, security and corruption on which President Muhammadu Buhari was voted into power, analysts said last night that the major task ahead should be revamping the economy, on which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised an alarm of a possible recession next year.
Consequently, some analysts are proposing the composition of an economic team for the effective implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) for total blocking of leakages, deregulation of the downstream sector and the possibility of adjusting the value of the naira.
They further said that the minister of finance, for instance, must work with other complimentary portfolios to retool the economy in the light of the new realistic price of crude oil which is a major determinant of the nation’s economic well being.
Razia Khan, managing director, chief economist, Africa Global Research, Standard Chartered Bank, London said that, “Anyone with a proven track record in public office would be well received. Former governors Fashola (of Lagos) and Fayemi (of Ekiti) would both be seen as very credible policy appointees.”
They are proposing that Ibe Kachikwu, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should double as the minister of state for petroleum, Babatunde Fashola, former governor of Lagos State, for power, Chibuike Amaechi, former Rivers governor for education, Kayode Fayemi, former Ekiti governor as National Planning minister and Amina Mohammed, special adviser to the UN Secretary-General on sustainable Development should be appointed as Health minister.
According to Bolade Agbola, executive director Cashcraft Asset Management limited, “The economic team when constituted has to articulate policies that will reduce our demand for foreign exchange while boosting our capacity to earn foreign exchange so that we won’t need to devalue the currency.
“We have to pragmatically deregulate the downstream sector of the oil sector, while we can only rule out devaluation if there is a turnaround of the global economy and return of crude price to the $50-60 region . We have to remove all obstacles to domestic trade ,protect and encourage local production initiatives and address the massive unemployment in the country.”
According to Agbola, “there is need for complimentary fiscal policies to address our peculiar economic situation and that will be the main task of the ministers, especially that of Finance and other complimentary portfolios that have to work together to retool the economy in the light of the new realistic price of crude oil which is a major determinant of of our economic well being.”
John Omachonu
