₦airaland Forum

baralatie:
They also discussed “the necessity to apply fiscal discipline and the need to respond to the population’s needs, improving the competitiveness of Nigeria and focusing on the short-term fiscal situation”.

"Fiscal Discipline" is simply another term for Spending Cuts. Everyone now knows that in times of recession or economic slowdown, increased spending is the way forward to drive growth. You can ask the US, UK, Japan, etc.

baralatie:
Define austerity measures in practical terms

In the simplest possible terms - Spending Cuts (i.e. Reduced government spending). Obviously, from the 2016 budget proposal, PMB/APC are in the mood to increase government spending.
---
It is also possible that they suggested currency devaluation, and PMB made it clear to them that that was a no-go area.

baralatie:
You nailed it but you missed it when you said when you said the IMF came with austerity conditions!

It well known globally that IMF preaches Austerity and Reforms as conditions for lending.

Shaftrod:
Friendly invited by the EFCC for criticizing the president? Hmmm!Those in support say aiz, those against say ney. The neiz have it.

It is Ayes and Nays.

“Let me be very clear: I’m not here nor is my team here to negotiate a loan with conditionalities, we’re not programming negotiations,” said IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.

“Frankly, given the determination and resilience displayed by the presidency and his team, I don’t see why an IMF programme is going to be needed,” she told reporters in Abuja.

That is just a diplomatic way of the IMF saying that the Nigerian Government did not agree to their usual ridiculous conditionalities & Austerity rhetoric.
---
I will reserve further comments until I hear the version of the Finance Minister.

Ridiculous! Is the governor, by any means, suggesting that it is OK for students to take classes sitting on the floor?

Validated:
I was doubting the source of the news, but with this coming from Lie Mohammned, we now know the truth!!!
They have actually withdrawn it for correction

Very funny. I admire your sarcasm.

feaworaoja007:
i used to value comment here on nairaland based on fact,content. And sometimes how hilarous a statement is...however,sometimes,when i read a comment, the content aand see the number of "likes",i dont usually have any option but to add mine maybe to help validate such comments!
That being said, when it comes APC and BUhari's issuee; i see some shallow comment with lots of "likes" and i wonder, Nigerians cant. Be that dumb! I mean,how can everyday people be. Suffering cos of bad Policies and people online wwill be ok with it?
It finally occured to me; its all PROPPAGANDA or beta still how some people put it beta "AISHA's RICE"
You make the comment and tell your e-rats or however you generate the "likes" that this comment with its liikes holds no meaning or water,cos facts on ground speak otherwise!
We cant infected with the zombie mentality with this viral propaganda strategy!
Rather be a wailer than a zombie!

Very funny. No comments.

Wizlove:
Even when they have the facts where should they drop it? Is it with the dss that is clearly an arm of the executive or with the courts whose orders buhari has bluntly refuse to obey,tell me please. Its sweet now but what about the after effect. Just like I always tell my friends during football matches,watch as a referee and not as a fan to avoid bias. No better football match than what is playing out now in Nigeria.

It is still the same courts that are judging election cases ifo PDP.

BuddhaPalm:
EFCC sir.

If the governors do not forward petitions and evidences to EFCC, what do they investigate? So, the onus is still on the governors. If they are not comfortable with EFCC, the state AG can charge whoever to court.
---
Sitting governors can frustrate EFCC investigation because they can compromise evidences. So

Kennydoc:
Amaechi was indicted by the Commission of Enquiry set up in Rivers State. Even EFCC got a petition against him, but still failed to invite him. What is your point really?

My point is that the state governors should do more. The state Attorney General should take responsibility for prosecuting corrupt officials.
---
I do not want to comment about the Wike Commission of Enquiry. Did you see the video? Even the FG will not successfully prosecute everyone indicted, but you can see how committed and dogged the FG is in its anti-corruption fight. Can you say same about Rivers SG?

ScotsReferendum:
It is a shame that Buhari is telling the whole world that no APC person is corrupt?

My first instinct was to ignore your rant but then I figured it may make sense to respond - for the benefit of other readers.
---
President Buhari is the head of the Federal Government. He has information at his disposal linking the FG looted treasury to certain politicians. It so happens that these politicians are PDP members, understandably so, since it was PDP that ran the previous federal government. Do you have any information linking any APC person with looting of the FG treasury?
---
And do not tell me about corrupt APC state governors. It is the duty of the current governors to dust up information at their disposal and probe those indicted. But you know why that's not gonna happen? Because those governors are already dirtying their hands as we speak, so they would rather indulge in a conspiracy of silence than rock the boat. Please don't blame Baba for the failure of state governors.
---
"He who comes to equity must come with clean hands". That is why Baba can flex muscle and HUNT any WITCH! No skeleton for Baba cupboard.
---
FFK loading... DSS and Immigration should be on high alert. No sneaking out of the country.

Bookmarked.

mekaboy:
Why then did OBJ say Buhari was not a good administrator? OBJ is more educated than PMB and has always strived to learn more. Has buhari engaged in any learning since 1984?

How will he now understand the dynamics of today's governance and economy?

Politicians do not always state facts, they only say what is politically expedient at the time. Is it not the same OBJ that rejected the PDP and threw his support behind PMB? How do you reconcile the 2 scenarios?

mekaboy:
Even if the govt recovers all looted funds, it will be swallowed by the same govt. The 6.8 trillion budget, only 30% will be used for capital projects.

The remaining 70% will be used for salaries. It will be used to pay the allowances of the NAS House of Rep, pay for the ministers, and all their convoys. The cost of Nigerian govt is too high, it gives little room for development. And the members of APC govt don't seem to care as long as they satisfy their personal desires.

Focusing on PERCENTAGES does not paint the full picture.
---
In ABSOLUTE terms, the APC government is spending less on recurrent (N2.35bn) than the 2015 budget (N2.59). In terms of Capital budget, the APC will be spending more (N1.5tn) than the 2015 budget (N533bn).
---
The budget is not perfect, it could have been better. But please give credit to where it is due.

mekaboy:
If Buhari knew he was coming to learn governance, he could have started as a governor to understand how a democratic government works.

Well I can say PDP was not really flying a real plan but using an emulation software on a screen. The effects of their mistakes and recklessness would be cushioned by the high prices of crude.

Buhari just mounted a real plane and is attempting to practice on air. The effects will be disastrous.

I never told you PMB was coming to learn. I only stated the fact that there is no difference between APC/PMB now and PDP/OBJ in 1999.

Atleast you have also acknowledged the fact that whatever meagre performance of PDP had little or nothing to do with their capacity to govern but mere extraneous circumstances (high oil price).

Brilliant! Bookmarked.

mekaboy:
How will you feel of you enter a flight and it takes of, and the pilot announces to passengers that this is his first time flying a plane, that you should bear with him and offer any advice you have in aviation to enable him land the plane?

Flying a plane requires special training, governance does not. PDP had no training to govern, they simply relied on a previous Governor (OBJ) to use his his experience to do the job similar to what APC is doing now with PMB.

In spite of all the shortcomings of APC, are you telling me that PDP did a particularly good job during their reign?

And how was APC going to be "prepared" for governance without being on sit.
---
But it is important for democracy to have another party experience governance at the Federal level, so that PDP does not keep hoodwinking Nigerians by preaching that they have experience. The new administration will make mistakes but they will learn and improve and in the end, democracy will be better for it.
---
I don't even want to bother going into all the shallow criticism you wrote there

Ama80:
D courage to look evil in d eyes and call it so is bravery.i commend d nations.

I couldn't agree more.
---
If the story of the president withdrawing the budget from NASS is true, then it must really be a courageous and honorable act. That budget needs to reflect the spirit of CHANGE else the government will be surprised how quickly they loose credibility and force their loyal supporters to the sidelines or opposition.

---

I hope it works. The ones installed in Abuja with Tax Payers' money has had zero value.
---
The cameras have not aided in apprehending any criminal. Worse still, they are almost all completely vandalized or stolen.

I expect the the Minister of Finance & the CBN Governor to be on top of their game for that meeting. They should interrogate any IMF proposal to ensure that every inhibiting conditions and clauses are removed before they sign anything.
---
They should reject any Austerity rhetoric from Lagarde.

The sad reality is that the story is no different with most states.
---
Unfortunately for these new set of governors, they are faced with a situation where their predecessors behaved like babies and depended solely on allocation from FG, with very little or no investment to generate IGR.
---
Now, the hen has come home to roost. I hope the political class will take this as a wakeup call to set the right structures for SUSTAINABLE growth.
---
Maybe it's true what they say that Africans are incapable of governing themselves. Our leaders behave like savages in caves. Maybe we should have been still colonized till 1999. Who knows how SA would have been if the colonial masters had left them 50yrs earlier.

Can someone please confirm if that is IBB's real twitter handle. I'll make my comment after that.

IamPatriotic:
I'm a Buharist to the bone, and I'll be very happy if this report turns out to be true because it will will reaffirm our belief in the PMB/PYO presidency.... I work in the budget unit of my MDA it's no hidden fact that the 2016 budget proposal was hurriedly prepared to meet up with the deadline and President Buhari couldn't have read every details.

And you think the president is going to read every detail now?
----
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, everything seems to revolve around the president as if he is the only competent or credible person. What is the job of the Budget Office? In fact, I think people like you should be fired for embarrassing the president.

sunnyb0b0:
But Bubu himself has been preaching austerity to us here, hasn't he?

The 2016 budget is clearly not an austerity budget. If anything, it is more expansionary than any budget ever in Nigeria.
---
The government intends to spend over N1.5tn on infrastructure this year - 3 times the 2015 Capital budget. That doesn't sound like Austerity.

ray501:
wit d high tarif in importation isn't dat enuf mssge to knw d direction of d economic polices

It is subject to conjectures and different interpretations. That is why I expect the administration to come up with something definitive.

omohayek:
The question is, though, do you really think it's better to say no to an IMF loan and then be forced to undergo even harsher budget cuts than the IMF would have proposed? Or would you prefer the Zimbabwe alternative, where you keep printing money at such a rate that it loses all value? Because those are the only two alternatives I can see when a nation's government has been living beyond its means and the bond markets are no longer willing to give it more funds or roll over its existing debt. If you know of a third alternative, I'd certainly like to hear it.

First of all, I do not think Nigeria is in a position where they cannot access the bond market. Despite the fall in oil prices, our economic fundamentals are not that bad to scare bond investors. Especially with the minor reforms being carried out.

Secondly, I do not think the IMF loan is intrinsically bad, after all, you'd normally get the loan at a better rate than the bond market. The problem usually lie in the conditions attached to the loan. I actually want Nigeria to access the loan but with a strong negotiating position to ensure we are not arm twisted. If we cannot get a good deal, then we look elsewhere. The Chinese will be willing creditors.

This government is failing woefully in one key area - effective communication!
---
By now, I expect the administration to have properly articulated its economic policies regarding Agriculture, Industries, Imports, etc. These policies need to be aligned and should be properly communicated to Nigerians so everyone knows where the govt is going and what it is trying to achieve.
---
Where there is incoherence or misunderstanding of policies, then people might react in a manner that makes such policies counterproductive. All the bad economic news are sad enough, not knowing if there is a concrete strategy in place is most disheartening.

I will reserve my comment regarding the rationality of detaining or releasing Sheikh al-Zakzaky.
---
However, I think Iran is the most unworthy country to demand diplomatic understanding from any country. They & North Korea are in the habit of not honoring diplomatic relationships. They jail and execute foreign nationals at will under unverified espionage claims. They do not even listen to the United Nations.

Eluwilussit:
You are fuccking funny! Yeah, fab 2016

Gratias! Wish you the same.