ADVERTISEMENT
The Sun Nigeria
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
No Result
View All Result
The Sun Nigeria
No Result
View All Result
Home Editorial

World Bank, Nigeria and economic reforms

10th October 2016
in Editorial
0
World Bank VP and paths to Nigeria’s economic revival
0
SHARES
113
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

Nigeria’s plan to secure external financing from international lenders to meet the shortfall in this year’s budget and stabilise the economy has run into difficulty. This is as a result of the insistence of international lenders, chiefly the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for further economic reforms by the Nigerian government. 

As a result, discussions on   loans to Nigeria have reportedly been stalled. Specifically, the World Bank has said it would not be able to disburse any loans to Nigeria until next year because it has not yet received the macroeconomic framework needed for the discussions to progress.   But, the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who is leading the Federal Government’s team on the  loan negotiations, has disputed the World Bank’s claims. The bank has, however, said it is “continuing its discussions with Nigeria on a wide range of critical reforms for restoring macroeconomic resilience”.

It added that it would determine with the Nigerian government, “the most appropriate instrument to support the reform programme”. It, however, did not give a timeline for the discussions. In the same vein, the IMF has called for more flexibility in Nigeria’s economic policies, and has projected that the current recession might not end until next year.

As the IMF rightly noted, the Nigerian government should be wary of rising debts in the public and private sectors, a development it described as “anti-growth. In its World Economic Outlook released last week in Washington, USA, the organisation projected that Nigeria’s economy will witness a dampening slow growth of 0.6 percent with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction of 1.7 percent. Nigeria’s economy was earlier projected to contract by 1.8 percent. The country had already recorded 0.36 and 2.06 percent contractions in the first quarter and second quarter of this year respectively, plunging it into its worst recession in 29 years.

Taken as a whole, government should not overlook the demands for reforms by these multilateral financial institutions, but should be careful in acceding to all their demands. Undoubtedly, government’s economic policies need to be retooled to pull Nigeria out of the current economic recession.  Although recent government measures, including the adjustment of fuel prices and the present flexibility in the foreign exchange market, are some of the painful economic pills Nigerians have been compelled to take, we disagree with the suggestion of the global money lenders that government should further devalue the naira which is currently in bad shape against major foreign currencies.

While external borrowing has become inevitable, extreme care and circumspection are necessary to avoid another debt trap that could mortgage the future of the country and that of its citizens. With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that some of the prescriptions of the international money lenders have not been in the best interest of  debtor nations.

We are mindful of the fact that our country is facing tough times, with a heavy shortfall in revenue to meet critical needs. That may have made external financing expedient, prompting government to take loans from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Japan International Cooperation Agency and Export-Import Bank of China.  This is in addition to the Federal Government’s plans to issue about $1billion Eurobond.

Our view is that while economic reforms are necessary, the way forward lies in putting other economic enablers firmly in place. Beyond domestic and external loans, we need a strong Economic Team that will be proactive rather than reactive to economic challenges. The current managers of the nation’s economy appear overwhelmed by the challenges in the land.

There is an urgent need to address the deficiencies in government’s current monetary and fiscal policies. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Finance which  recently openly disagreed on the best way to tackle the economic challenges and stimulate growth need to streamline their positions and work out the best way out of this recession.   Weak growth leads to lower investment, slower productivity and erosion of human capital. Our economists must find a way to overcome these.

We reiterate our earlier calls on government to improve the Ease of Doing Business in the country. Nigeria still ranks low in virtually all parameters on the global Ease of Doing Business index. This has made foreign investors to hold back investments to Nigeria.

We know that fixing Nigeria’s broken economy cannot happen overnight. Government should, therefore, make a detailed appraisal of the economy and design measures to tackle all the identified problems.  Patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods can go a long way in stimulating growth, while the effort to diversify the economy should be pursued with more vigour to attain inclusive growth.

 

sunnews

sunnews

Related Posts

…Buhari gives IGP marching orders
Editorial

The need for special courts

29th November 2019
February 16 poll: We’ve no presidential candidate –US
Editorial

Lessons from Bayelsa/ Kogi polls

28th November 2019
Social Media Bill: Death penalty unacceptable  – Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy SG
Editorial

Social Media Bill: Death penalty unacceptable – Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy SG

28th November 2019
Next Post
TECHNOLOGY: As NCC moves to stop unsolicited SMS, compliance problem lingers

Danbatta’s one year at NCC

Recession: APC lashes at PDP over statement, says party lacks credibility

Recession: What the government should do

Abia

Crusaders for Coops & Rural Dev.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No Result
View All Result

Highlights

Appeal Court verdict: I’ll win even in Supreme Court, Lalong dares Useni, PDP

We need Buhari’s religious, ethnic tolerance – Osinbajo

P&ID $9.6bn debt: FG secures variation order of $200m from UK Court

Edo 2020: Suspected thugs attack APC chieftain’s residence

Alleged Money laundering: Social media influencer, Mompha gets N100m bail

Cholera outbreak: Ogun confirms 5 deaths, records 12 cases

Trending

Oshiomhole
Politics

S’South APC leaders pass vote of confidence on Oshiomhole

29th November 2019
0

Romanus Ugwu, Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) South-south leaders has passed an overwhelming majority vote of...

women

Women urged to get involved in rebuilding Nigeria

29th November 2019
bauchi

Appeal Court judgement left me sleepless – Bauchi gov

29th November 2019
Gen. Alkali: Lalong berates community, religious leaders for hiding criminals

Appeal Court verdict: I’ll win even in Supreme Court, Lalong dares Useni, PDP

29th November 2019
pdp

We need Buhari’s religious, ethnic tolerance – Osinbajo

29th November 2019
The Sun Nigeria

Follow us on social media:

Categories

  • Abuja Metro (785)
  • Arts (150)
  • Broken Tongues (139)
  • Business (12,929)
  • Business Week (90)
  • Cartoons (69)
  • Citizen Joe (28)
  • Columns (7,253)
  • Cover (24,557)
  • Culture (39)
  • Duro Onabule (144)
  • Editorial (1,645)
  • Education Review (1,201)
  • Effect (377)
  • Elections (2,736)
  • Entertainment (2,302)
  • Events (102)
  • Features (3,577)
  • Femi Adesina (4)
  • Food & Drinks (143)
  • Frank Talk (99)
  • Funke Egbemode (108)
  • Gallery (7)
  • Health (1,673)
  • Insights (150)
  • Kalu Leadership Series (47)
  • Kunle Solaja (3)
  • Kunle Solaja (23)
  • Letters (147)
  • Lifeline (1,770)
  • Lifestyle (239)
  • Literary Review (650)
  • Marketing Matters (47)
  • Muiz Banire (2)
  • National (56,153)
  • News (1,649)
  • Offside Musings (46)
  • Opinion (4,073)
  • oriental news (782)
  • Politics (10,573)
  • Press Release (4)
  • PressClips (184)
  • Public Sphere (136)
  • Ralph Egbu (161)
  • Shola Oshunkeye (23)
  • Sideview (1)
  • South-west Magazine (816)
  • Sponsored Post (1)
  • Sporting Sun (5,540)
  • Sports (10,355)
  • Sun Girl (1,037)
  • Tea Time (27)
  • The Flipside – Eric Osagie (73)
  • The Sun Awards Live (67)
  • The Sun TV (103)
  • Thoughts & Talks (30)
  • Time Out (167)
  • Today's cover (175)
  • Tola Adeniyi (63)
  • Travel (78)
  • Travel & Tourism (153)
  • Trending (82)
  • TSWeekend (1,317)
  • Turf Game (133)
  • Uncategorized (9)
  • Updates (106)
  • Views from Abroad (56)
  • Voices (131)
  • World (16)
  • World News (6,444)
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Paper Ad Rate
  • Online Ad Rate
  • The Team
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.