The World Bank has suggested five key areas that the Federal Government should focus on to enable the country avoid its worst economic recession since 1980.
The Bank had, in the report, titled, “Nigeria in times of COVID-19: Laying foundations for a strong recovery,” estimated that Nigeria’s economy would likely contract by 3.2 per cent this year.
Speaking on a live Television Programme, “MoneyLine with Nancy” on African Independent Television, monitored in Abuja, the World Bank’s Lead Economist for Nigeria, Marco Hernandez, gave these areas to include enhancing macroeconomic management to boost investor confidence, safeguarding and mobilising revenues, reprioritising public spending to protect critical development and stimulate economic activities.
He also said there was a need to protect the poor and vulnerable communities, adding that measures should be intensified to contain the Coronavirus pandemic.
Henandez said, “There is a need to contain the outbreak, strengthen macroeconomic environment, boost revenue, and reduce expenditure due to lack of fiscal space by prioritising spending.
“The government needs to support lives and livelihood for the farmers and other aspects of the informal economy.”
Also Speaking, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, said that while the long-term economic impact of the global pandemic was uncertain, the effectiveness of the government’s response was important if Nigeria must avert the looming recession.
He said the effectiveness of the response would also help to determine the speed, quality and sustainability of Nigeria’s economic recovery.
He said it had become more urgent to address bottlenecks that hindered the productivity of the economy, as well as job creation, as the country battles the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Chaudhuri said, “This is an unprecedented shock. What we are saying is that Nigeria should be prepared because of the scale of the crisis.
“What happened in 2016, Nigeria was hit hard but other economies around the World were not hit as hard, especially the ones that are not so dependent on oil revenue.”
The expert added, “This time around, it’s the entire world and even as oil prices is low because of Nigeria’s vulnerability to oil price shocks, what could happen in Nigeria is much more severe than what we were talking about in 2016.
“So Nigeria has to be prepared for it and it’s an occasion for goverment to rise up to the challenge. For goverment to respond, it needs fiscal resources. This crisis provides opportunities for moving into the market to grow.”
