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Making Haste Slowly by kingsman66(m): 9:34pm On Nov 24, 2016 |
•The Federal Government is taking too long to
tackle the economy
The recent announcement by the Minister of
Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo
Udoma, that President Muhammadu Buhari will
inaugurate an economic recovery plan next
month is yet another demonstration of lethargy
by an administration that promised much but
has so far delivered disappointingly little.
Formally called the National Economic
Reconstruction and Growth Plan, it is structured
upon the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP)
from which the Medium-Term Expenditure and
Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF) was developed. It
will also incorporate the Medium-Term Sector
Strategies (MTSS) created for large-spending
ministries and sectoral plans for five thematic
areas, namely macroeconomic stability,
economic diversification, job creation and social
inclusion, governance, and human capital
development. The economic recovery plan will
mainly serve as an overarching policy guide,
thereby promoting enhanced coherence and
coordination.
Perhaps the most obvious problem with this
admittedly far-reaching plan is the lateness of
its appearance: it is emerging fully 18 months
into the life of the four-year tenure of this
administration, and some two years after the
start of Nigeria’s economic meltdown. So much
time has been spent in preparing to tackle the
country’s deep-rooted economic malaise that it
can legitimately be wondered if there will be
enough time left to actually tackle it.
Such sluggishness was first seen in the
distressingly long time it took for the federal
cabinet to be constituted. For months,
businesses and investors put their plans on hold
while they waited to see who they would be
working with, and what the main economic
policies of the incoming administration were.
To worsen matters, conflicting signals from
major economic actors like the Central Bank of
Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the
Economic Management Team and the
Presidency itself kept confusing stakeholders
about exactly how the Federal Government
planned to address the unfolding crisis.
This is what has given rise to accusations that
the Buhari administration lacks a comprehensive
economic blueprint. Those allegations derive
much of their force from the fact that there was
little discernible coordination on display in the
government’s response to the economic
situation. It was seen most especially in the
open disagreement between public office-
holders on the vexed questions of naira
devaluation, interest rates, the sale of national
assets and the proposed granting of emergency
powers to the president.
The economic recovery plan provides Nigeria
with a vital opportunity to enunciate a long-term
economic vision where one has been sorely
lacking. It must clearly state what the Federal
Government proposes to do, and show exactly
how it intends to do it. It must explicitly declare
its avowed objectives, visibly outline the definite
steps to be taken towards the attainment of
those objectives, detail the exact contributions
from all stakeholders, and provide precise
timelines and deadlines for the achievement of
strictly-demarcated set targets.
Widespread consultation is absolutely vital if the
plan is to succeed. As the Buhari
administration’s embarrassing reversals at the
Senate over the planned U.S. $29.96 billion loan
have demonstrated, poorly-defined proposals
will not receive the cooperation of the National
Assembly. The organised private sector and
labour unions cannot be expected to sign off on
economic policies they did not provide sufficient
input on. The long-suffering citizenry must be
fully convinced before they can agree to
programmes which almost certainly will involve
additional pain for them, at least in the
immediate interim.
Fortunately, it appears that government is
beginning to learn from its missteps. The recent
national economic retreat brought together some
of the nation’s most prominent economic
managers and has apparently enabled them to
come up with a coherent set of proposals on
how best to bring about sustained economic
growth. Senator Udoma has promised that there
will be comprehensive consultation in the final
run-up to the inauguration of the economic
recovery programme. The time for words has
long gone; only purposeful action will now
suffice. |
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