COVID-19 And The Economy: We’ll Explore Alternatives To Protect Nigerians – Buhari Assures
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said that the Federal Government foresaw the economic problems that may come in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that his administration will explore all alternatives to protect the people.
Buhari, who gave the assurance during a briefing session by the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) led by Professor Doyin Salami, said that with oil prices oscillating between 29 and 30 dollars in recent times, as opposed to the 57 dollars benchmark for year 2020 Budget, said many variables, including production cost and political impact, determine oil prices.
The President said; “We will see how to survive fallen prices, as we already envisaged the problem. Protecting the people from vagaries of international economic fortunes, and associated fallen prices of oil, is a priority of government and we will do our best to do so.”
Stressing the importance of education and healthcare, President Buhari submitted that if people are adequately educated, they won’t accept any form of mismanagement by leadership, nor would they allow themselves to be manipulated by those promoting ethnic and religious sentiments.
He promised that inputs in agriculture, education and healthcare would continue as much as practicable.
In his briefing, Professor Salami, leading a team of PEAC members, painted sobering scenarios of what could happen to the Nigerian economy, if the Covid-19 pandemic lasted for too long.
According to Salami; “These include; slower growth, as the supply and demand sides of global economy would be affected, uncertainty, which would erode confidence, governments acting unilaterally instead of cooperatively, further drop in oil prices, and lockdowns gaining grounds around the world.
“There would also be oil glut, trade imbalance, drop in foreign reserves, and rise in unemployment.”
Noting that many countries round the world may go into economic recession, the PEAC advocated hard work for Nigeria to keep its head above the waters.
The PEAC recommended among others, a possible revision of the 2020 Budget, with priority spending on healthcare, reprioritization of expenditure on
infrastructure to focus on projects nearing completion with pro-poor effects, curtailing recurrent expenditure, mobilizing the private sector to strengthen health sector infrastructure, and boosting of government revenue.
It also stressed that the projections may seem dire, but the worst may be avoided with hard work and scrupulous implementation of policies.
