Recession may last till 2020, says Agbakoba
A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, has expressed concerns about the recession currently facing Nigeria, saying the country may continue in it until 2020.
Agbakoba said this in Lagos, on Tuesday, while taking a critical look at Nigeria’s current economic predicament and the factors contributing seem to be inflation, high interest rates, unemployment, weak infrastructure, lower oil price and an economy with no capacity for growth. According to the legal practitioner, in a statement made available to journalists, he said that there was a need to develop a coherent fiscal, trade and monetary policy.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to put measures in place to avert this disaster.
Agbakoba also pointed out that cohesion was needed at this point, that the tight liquidity operated by the Central Bank of Nigeria where it jerked up its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 14 per cent is ridiculous, adding that CBN’s focus on Forex management is rather encouraging round tripping and creating asymmetry in the system.
He also advised the CBN to focus on productive value of the economy and not the numerical value of the naira, saying: “The full deregulation of the forex market to allow level playing field and removing distortions such as round tripping, will ensure that at least $20 billion inflow will instantly occur.”
The former NBA Chairman, then went on to list a number of solutions for President Buhari to revive the economy saying that there was an immediate need for “a presidential proclamation at the National Assembly, switching from austerity to growth policy, the federal government needs to spend more to boost growth.”
He, however, pointed that contrary to popular opinion, President Buhari does not need the envisaged economic emergency powers to make a turnaround. He noted that former President Shehu Shagari had it in his time and still failed, adding that the so-called economic emergency powers is also not working in Venezuela.
