The newly appointed Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun, is charged with the primary task of addressing the economic difficulties facing Nigeria, according to financial analysts.
Following his inauguration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday, Edun now faces urgent concerns with Nigeria’s fiscal, monetary policy, inflation, unemployment, foreign exchange, debt burden, and other economic issues.
With a N77 trillion debt load and rising poverty levels, the country’s July inflation rate surged to 24.08 percent. The withdrawal of fuel subsidies during the current foreign exchange crisis has increased the cost of life for Nigerians.
In the meantime, President Tinubu asked the 45 members of his ministerial cabinet to address all the issues affecting the nation during his speech at the ceremony to inaugurate them.
“All of you who have been sworn in have been called to distinguish yourselves at this moment of great promise and danger in equal measure. According to him, Nigerians have high expectations for quality in service delivery, responsibility, and transparency.
Experts have urged Edun and his team at the Ministry of Finance and its agencies to combat inflation head-on as well as poverty, unemployment, and the Naira’s depreciation against foreign currencies, supporting Tinubu’s challenge to the Ministers.
Prof. Godwin Oyedokun, a professor of accounting and financial development at Lead City University in Ibadan, stated in an interview with OBASANJO NEWS24 on Monday that the newly appointed Minister of Finance must pursue “business unusual” in order for the nation’s economy to succeed.
He said that Edun had to make sure that all Nigerians received an appropriate share of the relief from gasoline subsidies.
“Mr. Olawale Edun is a man of Integrity; I have no doubts about his capacity to address Nigeria’s economic problems. He needs to get started right away because justifications are no longer acceptable because they have been a part of the government from the beginning.
“The economy is no longer grinning; people are having a hard time coping. Nigerians are concerned about the currency rate and withdrawal of the petrol subsidy.
“Since everyone is impacted by the current difficulty, the palliative should be thoroughly examined, as well as the distribution criteria.
“The Minister must look at the palliative,” he said, referring to the formula to guarantee that regular citizens get.
“The government should sit down and consider the measures to be taken that provide a permanent solution,” he added. “Also, the forex issue must be tackled head-on.”
The Minister, according to Muda Yusuf, the director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), should examine economic governance, deal with macroeconomics difficulties, ensure budgetary consolidation, implement reforms to foreign policy, and remove trade barriers.
He insisted that the Minister provide steady, tried-and-true economic policies.
Yusuf said the Minister must take all necessary steps to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
“Reform the tax code to assure tax administration efficiency, lower tax evasion and avoidance, and end multiple taxation.
“By making their operations more efficient, revenue-generating agencies can earn more money.
Implement budget adjustments to promote financial responsibility, stop budget padding, stop project duplication, and check the results of service-wide voting to ensure transparency.
“Make sure government purchases and expenditures are cost-effective. Make a commitment to lowering the cost of government. He said, “Optimisation of the use of national assets to free up liquidity.”
Additionally, the Minister must see to it that revenue leaks are stopped and alternatives to borrowing from the government are investigated, according to Idakolo Gbolade, CEO of SD & D Capital Management.
“The Coordinating Minister for the Economy has his work cut out for him because he needs to act quickly to ensure prompt and effective execution of the government’s palliative care policy and make sure that funds saved are well used.
“The Minister must see to it that revenue leaks are stopped and that alternatives to government borrowing are investigated.
“The Minister is charged with the duty of ensuring that all MDAs function to strengthen our faltering economy.
“Mr. Edun comes into the position with relevant cognate experience to deliver; it can also be said with confidence that he was among those who drafted the blueprint that President Tinubu is using for the economy, so he should have no trouble carrying out the government’s policy directive.
The $3 billion loan from NNPC Limited for the swap of crude oil is one of the immediate initiatives the government has begun in the area of forex scarcity.
“The government is also attempting to alleviate the effects of subsidy removal by putting in place a number of measures in the transport sector that can mitigate the effect of subsidy removal over time.
“The government’s policy to jumpstart the economy through various loans to the manufacturing sector, SMEs, and young business owners could help to activate the economy positively if properly implemented and help reduce inflation in the shortest amount of time,” he said.
