To help the struggling national economy, the Federal Government yesterday (August 28, 2023) unveiled its 8-point agenda.
In its statement, the 8-point agenda was based on eight priority areas, with identified targets that would be delivered in the next three years, despite insisting that the current administration inherited a bad economy with an unacceptable high unemployment rate and a 24 percent inflation rate.
The provision of adequate food, the eradication of poverty, economic expansion and job creation, consumer credit availability, inclusivity in all its forms, particularly with regard to women and young people, increased security, level playing fields for business operations, rule of law, and, of course, the fight against corruption.
The government also reassured Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu’s administration won’t rely on borrowing and that he has promised to be open, sincere, and answerable to the people.
Also speaking the Ministry of Trade and Investment promised that the present administration will create 50 million jobs for Nigerians.
After the inaugural Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, which was presided over by President Tinubu and held in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Mr. Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, briefed State House correspondents. Responding to questions from journalists, he said that the Tinubu administration had to deal with a very poor economy with inflation of 24%.
When asked to characterize the type of economy the government encountered in practice, he responded, “Per capita has fallen steadily, inflation is at 24 per cent, unemployment is high, you know they are rebasing the way in which it’s calculated.
“Either way, it is high and youth unemployment is even unacceptably high, these are the key metrics that we have met.”
Asked to be specific on the kind of economy the Tinubu administration met on the ground, the Minister said: “We met a bad economy and the promise of Mr. President is to make it better.”
He added that the focus should be on how to create a macroeconomic environment where both domestic and foreign investors will invest and enhance production. He also stated that the Federal Government is not in any position to borrow money.
Eight-point agenda
According to him, the FEC looked at eight priority areas and determined goals for the following three years.
He confirmed that President Tinubu has given the ministries authority to implement plans and initiatives to revive the economy.
He said: “First he congratulated everybody and emphasised the high expectations of Nigerians and he encouraged us to be bold and courageous and innovative and to act with urgency in delivering a better life to all Nigerians.
“Essentially, we went through an exercise of looking at where things stood, regarding the economy, the growth rate, the exchange rate, inflation, unemployment and so on.
“The overriding conclusion is that we’re not where we should be and we also examined the President’s eight-point agenda, that is the eight priority areas for moving the Nigerian economy forward and for delivering to Nigerians and those are basically food security; ending poverty, economic growth and job creation, access to capital, particularly consumer credit, inclusivity in all its dimensions, particularly as regards youths and women, improving security, improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate, rule of law, and of course, fighting corruption.
“It is around this matrix that the plans and targets of what will be delivered in the next three years or so were identified, discussed and inputs were given by various ministers and we’ll now go away with the marching order to refine further the targets in particular and within weeks to start rolling out policies and programmes to turn around the economy and make things better for all Nigerians. That really is the substance of what the discussions were all about.”
Asked how the country would repay the loans since they were for consumption, he said: “Clearly, the Federal Government is not in a position to borrow at this time. Rather, the emphasis has to be on creating a stable, macroeconomic environment, stable inflation, stable exchange rate.
“An environment within which people can come and invest and thereby increase production and further grow the economy.
“Improve and create jobs and reduce poverty. So, the aim of all reforms at this time is to focus on what we call equity to focus on investment to attract investment by Nigerians. Investment by foreign direct investors and even investment by portfolio investors who want to invest in the financial aspects of the Nigerian economy, such as the stock market, such as the bond market.
“So that is the plan. That is the expectation and it is that there will not be a reliance on borrowing. Rather, as revenues increase, the benefit of removing fuel subsidy and the subsidy on the exchange rate, means more money for the government at all levels.
