Release funds to stimulate economy – Group tells Buhari
The Centre for Social Justice on Thursday
called on President Muhammadu Buhari to
release more funds for investment in capital
projects in order to stimulate economic
activities and reverse the decline in the
growth rate of the country’s Gross Domestic
Product.
The group, in a statement issued in Abuja by
its Lead Director, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, called
on the President not to overlook the warning
of the Central Bank of Nigeria that the
economy could fall into recession by next year
if proactive steps were not taken by the
government to revive it.
The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had
shortly after the Monetary Policy Committee
meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, noted that the
economy had remained fragile owing to
various factors.
For instance, he said the country’s GDP
growth rate recorded a slow growth in the
second quarter of this year, making it the
second consecutive quarter of less-than-
expected performance in the current fiscal
year.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics,
the real GDP grew by 2.35 per cent in the
second quarter of 2015, a significant decrease
when compared with the 3.96 per cent and
6.54 per cent in the preceding quarter and
corresponding period of 2014, respectively.
Real GDP growth is projected by the NBS to
stabilise at 2.63 per cent this year, compared
with the 6.22 per cent recorded in 2014.
Onyekpere said in the
statement entitled: ‘Before it
is too late: The time to act
is now’, that there was a
need for relevant authorities
to take immediate and
urgent steps and not to wait
until the economy finally
slipped into recession before
acting.
Accordingly, he called on
Buhari to immediately
appoint ministers, especially
that responsible for finance
and economic management,
and to constitute the
Economic Management
Team of the Federal
Government.
He also called for the
unveiling of the economic
agenda of the Buhari
administration, stating that
“public and private
stakeholders cannot
continue groping in the dark
and imagining the content of
the government’s economic
agenda.”
The unveiling of a holistic
framework, he added, had
become a matter of urgent
national importance.
Onyekpere said, “The CSJ urges the President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other
relevant authorities to take immediate and
urgent steps, and not to wait until the
economy finally slips into recession before
acting.
“There is a need to create synergy between
the fiscal and monetary policies, unveil the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework and
Fiscal Strategy Paper 2016-2019 as required
by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and open up
public dialogue on macroeconomic policies
for the medium term. The MTEF should have
been ready by the end of June 2015; but it is
better late than never.”
Source: Punch
The Centre for Social Justice on Thursday
called on President Muhammadu Buhari to
release more funds for investment in capital
projects in order to stimulate economic
activities and reverse the decline in the
growth rate of the country’s Gross Domestic
Product.
The group, in a statement issued in Abuja by
its Lead Director, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, called
on the President not to overlook the warning
of the Central Bank of Nigeria that the
economy could fall into recession by next year
if proactive steps were not taken by the
government to revive it.
The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had
shortly after the Monetary Policy Committee
meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, noted that the
economy had remained fragile owing to
various factors.
For instance, he said the country’s GDP
growth rate recorded a slow growth in the
second quarter of this year, making it the
second consecutive quarter of less-than-
expected performance in the current fiscal
year.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics,
the real GDP grew by 2.35 per cent in the
second quarter of 2015, a significant decrease
when compared with the 3.96 per cent and
6.54 per cent in the preceding quarter and
corresponding period of 2014, respectively.
Real GDP growth is projected by the NBS to
stabilise at 2.63 per cent this year, compared
with the 6.22 per cent recorded in 2014.
Onyekpere said in the
statement entitled: ‘Before it
is too late: The time to act
is now’, that there was a
need for relevant authorities
to take immediate and
urgent steps and not to wait
until the economy finally
slipped into recession before
acting.
Accordingly, he called on
Buhari to immediately
appoint ministers, especially
that responsible for finance
and economic management,
and to constitute the
Economic Management
Team of the Federal
Government.
He also called for the
unveiling of the economic
agenda of the Buhari
administration, stating that
“public and private
stakeholders cannot
continue groping in the dark
and imagining the content of
the government’s economic
agenda.”
The unveiling of a holistic
framework, he added, had
become a matter of urgent
national importance.
Onyekpere said, “The CSJ urges the President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other
relevant authorities to take immediate and
urgent steps, and not to wait until the
economy finally slips into recession before
acting.
“There is a need to create synergy between
the fiscal and monetary policies, unveil the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework and
Fiscal Strategy Paper 2016-2019 as required
by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and open up
public dialogue on macroeconomic policies
for the medium term. The MTEF should have
been ready by the end of June 2015; but it is
better late than never.”
Source: Punch
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