Nigeria’s minister of finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has admitted that because of harsh economic situation, Nigerians are frustrated, which is why the Muhammadu Buhari government is prioritizing the sectors.

“Yes, the economy is challenged and people are extremely frustrated and we need to rebuild. Fundamentally, we need to prioritize. We have to rebuild this country and it has to be data driven.”

The minister, who spoke during the visit of the leadership of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) to her office in Abuja, challenged the private sector to come up with policies that are implementable in view of the harsh economic situation.

She assured the Group that her ministry is ready to work with them even as she asked members of the Group to keep track of some of the recommendations to the Federal Government.

“I want to challenge you by asking you to keep track of how many of your polices are implemented and those not implemented. You also need to find out why those policies were not implemented. They may be great policies at wrong times, or they may be wrong policies. They may even be un-implementable policies.

“I’m giving you the commitment of the Federal Ministry of Finance to assist you. You are invited to the Federal Ministry of Finance and spend a day and sit with our people and see how government affairs are being run.”

The minister stressed the need to prioritize in the face of the revenue challenge in the country, adding: “we are already overhauling our tax policy. We want to have a realistic picture of tax.

“We need to realize that with the collapse of commodity prices we don’t have enough foreign exchange to buy as many imported goods as we like to, so when there is import substitution, we must embrace it.”

The minister justified the stoppage of the policy on Export Grant, which according to her, has been seriously abused.

‎Responding to the explanation sought by NESG on the current status of Export Grant, the minister said that although her predecessor halted the implementation of the policy, she believed the decision was in order, going by harvests of startling revelations on the abuse of export grant.

“On paper, why will you cancel Export Grant? The federal government is set up to encourage export business. However, in a situation, where we do not have control, we open up doors for the kind of abuse, which are only imaginable. We have people exporting stones, describing them as high valued goods, collecting an import credit and using that to import fish.

“We do need to look for how to support export, but we have to be very realistic in the recommendations we are coming up with.” [myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has charged Central Banks in Africa to continue to look for original home-grown solutions to the numerous financial and economic challenges facing the region, and that they should not rely on “fit for all purposes” prescriptions handed down from abroad.
The world, he said, is a dynamic place and that with innovation, the region can survive the challenges, even as he acknowledged that African Central Banks have been at their best in keeping African economies afloat through proactive and effective combination of conventional and innovative monetary policies.
President Buhari, who declared open on Thursday, the 2016 Annual meeting of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB), in Abuja, listed some of the challenges facing the continent as the slowdown in growth; weakening global demand; rising inflation; restrictions in capital flows; rising debt levels; increased exchange rate volatility and depleting external reserves.
“Those of us who rely on only natural resources such as Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, and Mozambique have been hit the hardest. We have also had to contend with the effect of the Ebola Virus Disease, which struck some countries in the West-African Sub-region. “Furthermore, China, a major trade and business partner to a number of African countries is currently slowing down as it remodels its economy, sparking fears of further weakening.”
The President, who commended the Central Bank of Nigeria for spearheading economic stimulus measures through specific intervention programmes which he said should be sustained through good times and through difficult times, noted that monetary policy alone is not sufficient to bring about desired economic growth.
“We must carefully balance monetary and fiscal policy measures.”
He said that while Nigeria appreciated the economic challenges and the need to surmount them, the country is  determined to diversify the economy away from excessive reliance on oil and other primary products. “Consequently, we are taking measures and implementing policies that would ensure we are self-sufficient, generate massive employment for millions of our youth, and explore our untapped human and natural resources.
“We shall also embark on export and production diversification steps, including investment in infrastructure; promotion of manufacturing through agro-based industries and expansion of Regional Trade. All these would involve integrating the informal economy into the mainstream and providing funds to Small and Medium Enterprises.
“We shall also continue, with greater determination and focus to pursue our goal of ensuring improved security for our country and its citizens, and without letting up on our fight against corruption and terrorism.
“Side by side, with economic stimulus measures, we must intensify our surveillance and give guidance to the operations of our financial institutions to reverse the trend of illicit flows of funds out of Africa.
“We should all be serious in putting measures aimed at ensuring that the proceeds of these illicit flows are repatriated to their countries of origin with minimal bureaucratic hitches.”
The President welcome the theme of this year’s meeting of the Association, which is: “Unwinding Unconventional Monetary Policies: Implications for Monetary Policy and Financial Stability in Africa.”
He noted that the theme covers contemporary issues and is of special relevance to Africa.
The theme, President Buhari stressed, corresponds with a period when African economies are confronted with a number of growing and sometimes extraneous challenges that constitute threats to growth and the stability of the financial systems. [myad]