The Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf has explained the ripple effects that the merger of the Ministry of Finance with the Ministry of Budget & Planning has on policy formulation.
He said the merger of the two industries, newly placed under the supervision of Mrs Zainab Ahmed for the second term reign of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, will pose huge problems for the minister.
Rather than merging the ministeries. Yusuf believes the Federal Government should have made renewed efforts to fix the economy.
“Oil price has dropped below U$60 per barrel. Also, the general revenue outlook is not positive. Therefore, fixing the economy should be paramount on the agenda of the new cabinet. Policy coordination, especially between the monetary and fiscal authorities, and among the key economic ministries is very important. The ministers should also regularly engage economic operators in their respective sectors in order to get appropriate feedback on economic policy.”
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Yusuf advocated for a new strategy that will stimulate diverse foreign investments and curtail fuel importation pressures on the dwindling finances of the government.
“Revenue performance of the government is weak at this time; hence, all hands must be on deck to ensure revenue optimization across all ministries without necessarily imposing an additional burden on the business community.
“There should be a fresh strategy to stimulate domestic and foreign investments, in order to attract more private capital into the Nigeria economy. It is equally very crucial to urgently reform the oil and gas sector in order to reduce the current pressure of fuel importation and subsidy payments on government finances.”
Samson Oyedeyi
