- Prevent Reversal of Economic Progress, NESG Urges Buhari
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to avert the reversal of the progress made last year in the economy.
The Chairman, NESG, Kyari Bukar, gave the charge during a visit to the President for the presentation of the report of the 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit and the 2018 NESG Macroeconomic Outlook Report to him.
Bukar described the economy’s rebound from recession and the improvement the nation recorded in the World Bank’s latest Doing Business ranking as encouraging developments in 2017.
He also commended the Presidency for providing fiscal support to states that struggled to pay salaries and other financial obligations in the past year.
Bukar, however, appealed to Buhari to address several developments in the country, challenging him to lead the effort to seek a pragmatic approach to addressing the frequent clashes between cattle herders and their host communities across the country, highlighting the adverse impact of the clashes on the growth of the agriculture sector.
He called for the establishment of pricing mechanisms in the allocation of economic resources in the country, describing price controls as a disincentive for investors and a drain on finite government resources.
“Despite the expected political distractions in a pre-election year, we must keep our eye on the ball. While the economy is improving, hard work and a strong political will to push through further reforms are needed to preserve the progress made so far,” Bukar said.
The NESG chairman also warned of the consequences of unclear signalling on the legitimacy of the country’s political and economic institutions, citing the delay in the screening of the Monetary Policy Committee nominees by the National Assembly as one such example and appealed to the President to increase the effort to resolve the impasse responsible for the delay.
Perennial gridlock on the access road to the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports was highlighted as one of several issues requiring urgent presidential intervention.
