By Seyi Babalola
According to financial analysts, Olawale Edun, the newly appointed Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, must take the lead in addressing the economic issues that Nigeria is now experiencing.
Following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration of Edun on Monday, Nigeria’s fiscal, monetary policy, inflation, unemployment, foreign exchange, debt load, and other economic issues have now become Edun’s urgent difficulties.
The country’s July inflation rate jumped to 24.08 percent, and the N77 trillion in debt and rising poverty rate contributed to this spike. Nigerians are now paying a higher price for living as a result of the withdrawal of fuel subsidy during the current foreign exchange crisis.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu, during his speech at the inauguration of his 45-member ministerial cabinet, urged the ministers to address all the challenges facing the country.
“In this moment of abundant promise and peril in equal measure, all of you that have been sworn in have been called to distinguish yourselves. Nigerians are highly expectant of excellence in service delivery, accountability, and transparency,” he said.
Experts have encouraged Edun and his team at the Ministry of Finance and its agencies to battle inflation, poverty, unemployment, and the devaluation of the Naira against foreign currencies head-on, supporting Tinubu’s demand to the Ministers.
In an interview with newsmen on Monday, Prof. Godwin Oyedokun, a professor of accounting and financial development at Lead City University in Ibadan, stated that the newly appointed Minister of Finance must engage in “business unusual” in order for the nation’s economy to function.
He said that Edun had to make sure that the remedy for the elimination of gasoline subsidies was distributed fairly to all Nigerians.
“Mr Olawale Edun is a man of Integrity; I don’t doubt his ability to tackle Nigeria’s economic challenges. He should hit the ground running immediately; there is no longer room for excuses because they have been part of the government from day one.
“The economy is no longer smiling; people are struggling to cope. The petrol subsidy removal and exchange rate are troubling Nigerians.
“The palliative should be adequately looked into; what are the criteria for the distribution because everybody is affected by the current hardship.
“The formula to ensure that the ordinary citizens get, the Minister must look at the palliative”, he said.
“Also, the issue of forex must be tackled head-on; the government should sit down and consider the measures to be taken that provide a permanent solution”, he stated
On his part, Muda Yusuf, the Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, said the Minister should look into economic governance, tackle macroeconomics issues, ensure fiscal consolidations, foreign policy reforms and removal of trade barriers.
He said the Minister must ensure consistent, tested, and trusted economic policies.
Yusuf stated that the Minister must do everything to stabilise the forex market.
“Reform Tax regime to ensure efficiency in tax administration, reduce tax evasion, tax avoidance and eliminate multiple taxation.
“Unlock more income from revenue generating agencies through enhanced efficiency of their operations.
“Initiate budget reforms to ensure fiscal discipline, curb budget padding, curb duplication of projects and review the service-wide votes to ensure transparency.
“Ensure value for money in government expenditure and procurement. Commit to a reduction in the cost of governance. Optimization of the utilisation of national assets to unlock liquidity”, he stated.
Also, Idakolo Gbolade, Chief Executive Officer of SD & D Capital Management said the Minister must ensure that the leakages in government revenues were blocked, and alternatives to government borrowings must be explored.
“The Coordinating minister of the economy has his job cut out for him because he must move swiftly to ensure quick and impactful implementation of the government’s policy on palliative and ensure that funds saved are judiciously utilised.
“The Minister must ensure that leakages in government revenues are blocked, and alternatives to government borrowings must be explored.
“The Minister is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that all MDAs perform to uplift our ailing economy.
“Mr Edun comes into the job with relevant cognate experience to deliver; it can also be safely said that he was among those that drafted the blueprint that President Tinubu is using for the economy and implementation of the policy directive of the government should not be difficult for him to achieve.
“The government has started some quick interventions in the area of forex scarcity, which can be bridged by the NNPC Limited $3 billion loan for crude swap.
“The government is also trying to address the subsidy removal impact by implementing various measures in the transport sector that can cushion the effect of subsidy removal in the long run.
“The government’s policy to jumpstart the economy through various loans to the manufacturing sector, SMEs and youth entrepreneurs could help to activate the economy positively if properly implemented and help reduce inflation within the shortest possible time”, he stated.
