Nigeria risks worst recession in 40 years, says NACCIMA

By Tunde Shorunke

Director-General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Amb Ayo Olukanni, has said Nigeria could experience its worst recession in 40 years, as federal government hiked ex-depot price of petrol and increased electricity tariff within one week.

He pointed out that the policies aimed at boosting revenue generation could further increase the severity and duration of the recession.

He said it is with some trepidation that NACCIMA notes the implementation of two policy decisions in the space of a week, that are set to negatively impact the consumption and the productive capacity of Nigerians amid the prospect of the worst economic recession in 40 years.

“It is the position of NACCIMA that the decision of the federal government to increase the price of petrol through the product price adjustment by the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC); to commence the implementation of Cost Reflective Tariffs for pricing the cost of electricity; as well as, numerous policies implemented across the Federal and State levels of government to bolster revenues will serve only to increase the severity and duration of the looming economic recession.

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“We reiterate our counsel that government at all levels resist the urge to tax or place an economic burden on the citizenry but adopt policies that stimulate economic activity by creating a regulatory environment that encourages citizens to take up productive activities in larger numbers.

“As we project a state of economic recession by the end of the year 2020, we counsel a shift in focus from lump-sum taxation (or any economic policy with a similar effect) to consumption taxes, as this will allow for the appropriate environment for a quick recovery from the economic recession.”