COVID-19: Experts laud FG’s measures, seek more

Financial experts on Monday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for measures announced to curb COVID-19, but sought more from the government.

The experts, who spoke in Lagos, were reacting to the President’s national broadcast on measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

They also urged Nigerians to prioritise expenses, with emphasis on food and medicine in the present critical circumstances.

A professor of finance and capital market at the Nasarawa state University, Keffi, Uche Uwaleke, said that the lockdown in the most-affected states was commendable to contain the virus.

Uwaleke stressed the need for a deferment in the implementation of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) and new electricity tariffs in line with economic realities.

“We expected the President to announce a deferment in the implementation of the VAT increase, which commenced in February, and the new electricity tariffs expected to kick off in April,” he stated.

The don noted that the lockdown in the most-affected states was commendable in the hope that it would be relaxed after two weeks, following the flattening of the COVID-19 pandemic curve.

“The good news is that the President also announced exemptions, especially for pharmaceutical and food companies who would be allowed to operate, including the ports.

“Equally salutary is the moratorium on Federal Government-funded loans as well as the cash transfer to the vulnerable groups and relief materials for satellite town dwellers in the affected states,” Uwaleke said.

Also, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omordion, lauded the President’s directives and measures to curb the spread of the deadly virus, but said they could have come earlier.

Omordion said COVID-19 had affected the global economy with crash in oil prices and border closure, noting that global recession was obvious.

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He stated that proper implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria interventions and other stimulus would help in curbing coronavirus-induced recession.

Immediate Publicity Secretary of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Mr. Moses Igbrude, urged Nigerians to adhere to the instructions given by the government and health professionals.

Igbrude said Nigerians needed to adjust to the present economic realities by economising whatever they had in stock.