₦airaland Forum

Rising Economic Policy Uncertainty: It is true that a myriad of problems were inherited from the previous regime, the new regime appears to have been too preoccupied with its internal challenges within the government to be able to chart a future policy path for others outside government to plug into. The euphoria that heralded President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime is giving way to rising economic policy uncertainty as the regime is not providing any holistic indication of its fiscal or broader economic policy directions that others outside government can base their planning on. The regime appears to be struggling with the present, finding it hard to contemplate a future for the country, and even harder to engage others about that future. Some positive moves, like the resolution of the States’ liquidity crisis in July and the announcement of a Treasury-Single-Account (TSA) in August, have been made by the regime on the fiscal front, but they have unfolded piecemeal, and there is no effort to give any indication of what more is to come within a holistic fiscal policy framework. It is not difficult to imagine that more good news would filter in on the fiscal front in the next few weeks when the positive impacts of various bold efforts to block government revenue leakages, including saving from ending fraudulent fuel subsidy payouts from excess crude savings, ending crude oil theft, and ending abuses in the administration of import duty/tax waivers, and the increased revenue inflow from implementation of the TSA. But it would have been better for the government to have stated these within a forward looking fiscal guidance document that will leave no one in doubt about the fiscal policy directions of the new government. The fiscal policy direction remains uncertain, and such is not good for the confidence of private economic agents. Beyond fiscal guidance, early indication of broader economic policy directions should help allay fears about the outlook of the Naira and ease the pressures on the Central Bank. More than just doing a string of good things, the new regime needs to demonstrate a clear ability to clarify the future path of its interventions so that private agents can make their plans with much less uncertainty. The weakening naira could indeed have resulted from the loss of confidence resulting from rising uncertainty about fiscal and broader economic policy directions. Weak Economic Policy Institutions: It is becoming clear that the new regime inherited very weak or non-existent institutions of economic management. Nigeria has strong institutions of security management that ensures no vacuum in the offices of national security adviser, director of state security, military service chiefs, immigrations, customs, inspector general of police, and chief of civil defense corps. These positions are always manned even in the absence of ministers. President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) can be assumed to be adequately briefed on matters of national security, even in the absence of ministers of defense or interior. No surprise the President engages effectively on security issues. In the security management set up, ministers and ministries are no more than secretary and secretariats, the actual security management rest in the hands of the agents and agencies of continuity. Nigeria needs to replicate this institutional strength in economic management. A striking reality of Nigeria’s governance system is that there are no recognizable agents or agencies of continuity in economic policy management in Nigeria. This has to be redressed. Since 1946 US Presidents get into office to meet a non- partisan Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) that provides them adequate briefing on economic issues on a daily basis. From the same year, congressmen get into office to meet a standing staff of a bipartisan and bicameral Joint Economic Committee (JEC) who provides them pre- and post-legislative briefings on economic issues. Both the President and Congress look up to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for insights, foresight and oversight on economic issues. The CEA prepares and submits the President’s Economic Report to Congress in February of each year and the JEC prepares and submits its response to the President’s report to Congress the following month. In the American set up, economic ministers and ministries are also no more than secretaries and secretariats, the actual economic policy conception and enforcement rest in the hands of the aforementioned agencies of continuity, which are altogether missing in Nigeria. Little wonder that Nigeria has been ineffective in economic management. The economic policy vacuum is becoming very striking in the first three months of PMB. The President will do well to urgently redress this. Weak Economic Engagement: In spite if compelling reasons to engage on pressing economic issues of the day, the President and the National Assembly have both conspicuously stood aloof in the first three months of the new regime. The President will do well to create economic management agencies that will help him and the National Assembly to directly engage on economic issues and generate ideas and policy directives for ministries to implement. These agencies must be situated outside the ministries, not within. In the US, ministries necessarily operate within policy visions set by the CEA, endure the scrutiny of the JEC staff at congressional hearings, and are subject to ongoing oversight of the GAO. The expectation that ministers will manage the Nigerian economy is misplaced. Institutions for economic management have to be created to provide ideas for ministries to execute and also provide adequate scrutiny over ministerial appointments and activities. Such institutions are ideally located within the executive office of the President and within the National Assembly to equip the President and Legislators to engage more directly and effectively on economic issues. It was under the Employment Act of 1946 that the US Congress established two advisory panels: the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and the Joint Economic Committee (JEC). Their primary tasks are to review economic conditions and to recommend improvements in economic policy. The CEA and the JEC help the US President and Congress to routinely conceive economic policy ideas and process them into legislation for government agencies to implement, while the GAO scrutinizes the efficiency of the conduct of all government agencies. Economic policy conception results from the engagement of President and Congress, while government agencies are only expected to implement Presidential and/or Congressional directives. Little wonder the US President and Congress authoritatively have a lot more to say about all aspects of the US economy than anyone else. In contrast, since 1999, the Nigerian President and the National Assembly have passed the buck of policy conception and design to agencies that should ideally only implement. The new regime must overcome the growing democratic deficit in which Presidents and Parliaments come into office only to pass the buck of economic policy conception, design and coordination to unelected appointees that should ideally only implement. Efforts must now be made to the build the capacity of the Presidency and the Parliament to conceive, design and coordinate economic policies, and exercise meaningful oversight on their appointees. Nigeria clearly needs to create institutions like the CEA in the Presidency and the JEC in the National Assembly to ensure that the President and Parliament are better able to directly engage to conceive meaningful and effective economic policies. Budgeting and Policy Coordination: On the execution and coordination side, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) assists the US President to prepare the country’s budget and also helps all executive departments and agencies across the Federal Government to enforce the policy commitments and priorities of the President. The OMB was transferred from the Treasury Department, where it started life as the Bureau of Budget (BOB) in 1921, to the Executive Office of the President in 1939. The OMB also reviews, harmonizes and clears all agency communications with Congress, including testimony and draft bills to ensure consistency of agency legislative views and proposals with Presidential policy






















source : http://blog.esut.edu.ng/2015/09/buharis-economic-management-challenges/

This apc govt failures is becoming indefensible and they seem to be taking Nigerians for a ride big time. Throughout d admin of Yar Adua and GEJ combined we have never witnessed d type of fuel scarcity being experienced now. Acceptance of failure is a virtue but always bulk passing and blame games is a sign of incompetence. Diezani as Petroleum Minister at least ensured dia was steady and uninterrupted fuel supply and her claim to v left over 5billion dollar in d NLNG has not been debunked by anybody yet we all vilify her. If a filling station sells a litre of petrol for N300 as against N87 then in one tanker of 33,000 litres he makes an extra gain of over N7,000,000 (7 million naira), just for a tanker and hence he is ready to settle any DPR agent at anytime once caught. I bet this might continue into d Yuletide. Sai Buhari CHANGING to Chai Buhari.

Keep shifting d blame. Confused government.

Ok

Inheritance abi...

Because Fuel scarcity is like house.

warripekin:
Keep shifting d blame. Confused government.

being a sycophant wont help you....



lets be stop being prejudicial in our judgements

Ok, accepted. But note this Mr confused President.
The more you keep blaming the previous regime, the more you lose Focus on yours. Wise up Old man!

LWKMD

This is the shittest article I have ever read in my life cos as of last 2 months I bought fuel for 87 naira

APC is a failure and the dullard an embarrassment

Goodluck Jonathan done suffer. Everything is his fault. I can swear that if Buhari should catch catarrh, they would say it's Jonathan that infected him.
Goodluck never blamed anyone for anything. He always took responsibility.

I laugh in Okokobioko ..

..Is that the outcome of the meeting between the bloggers and the minister of information; Alhaji Lai Lalasticlala


OK, let's leave fuel .. What of power supply ..


..Who, what and where is occupy Nigeria

Government of excuses,by the gullibles and for the gullibles

jlinkd78:
This apc govt failures is becoming indefensible and they seem to be taking Nigerians for a ride big time. Throughout d admin of Yar Adua and GEJ combined we have never witnessed d type of fuel scarcity being experienced now. Acceptance of failure is a virtue but always bulk passing and blame games is a sign of incompetence.

apc isnt playing blame games,they are trying to enlighten the masses on the root cause or nucleus of the problem while seeking for the best approach to address it....we have competent and impeccable hands in the petroleum sector now
......




the mishap and unfortunate situation meted on apc by Gej and deziani madueke Will soon come to an abrupt end.....the status quo must change

Hahahahahahahaha inheritance kwa?? APC govt no go kill us ooo

APC and excuses are like bread and butter.

if you guys have good sense of acumen,you will understand what buhari it's trying to explain .......lets political sentiments not encompass our reasoning...this is the reason why NigerIa wont develop,instead of looking for panacea on how to move this nation forward,the opposition party is wishing the government in power failure and retrogression ........

DuchessLily:
Hahahahahahahaha inheritance kwa?? APC govt no go kill us ooo

since you survived for the past 16years of grief and abject poverty,be thankful for the CHANGE has come to relieve you

Kingsley1000:
since you survived for the past 16years of grief and abject poverty,be thankful for the CHANGE has come to relieve you

The past 16 yrs was better than this few months of change we have experienced so far.... U guys should better improve ooo..fulfill All the promises.... Promise is a debt

Ecoplexus:
APC and excuses are like bread and butter.

mumu

DuchessLily:
The past 16 yrs was better than this few months of change we have experienced so far.... U guys should better improve ooo..fulfill All the promises.... Promise is a debt

16years of hardship,thank goodness you survived


..........6months is just a token compared to 16years of hell we had in the past,now you are enjoying light,good road amid others courtesy of baba's body language ........more changes and revamping are still cuming

Cry me a river

Spending one's ample time in highlighting the unpreparedness and inefficiencies of this adminstration is a waste of energy and data. Events in the last 5 months (or 8 months post election) only point to one altruism; Buhari cum APC never had a handy blueprint on how to tackle Nigeria's economic, political and sociocultural upheavals even while in opposition. All the talks about change at different symposia and fora were nothing but mere rhetorics and hoax. APC CAN BE LIKENED TO A CAT THAT BECAME UNUSUALLY FRIENDLY TO AN OLD WOMAN JUST FOR THE PURPOSE OF STEALING FROM HER POT. However, one great lesson we all have to learn (most especially online gladiators and poor students of Nigerian history) is never to fall for politicians' propaganda.

Lai Mohammed meeting with bloggers already paying off.







End Time Bloggers.

[quote author=Ecoplexus post=40384960][/quote]jobless man,i can see the degree of your sense........you went through hell for the past 16years,your sense couldn't liberate you,now you've seen the CHANGE to relieve you,your sense won't acknowledge that

Kingsley1000:
16years of hardship,thank goodness you survived


..........6months is just a token compared to 16years of hell we had in the past,now you are enjoying light,good road amid others courtesy of baba's body language ........more changes and revamping are still cuming

Light and good road??

Which area is that?? Abi u live in Aso Rock?

APC is clueless than jonathan.

Jonathan was able to deliver daily fuel while apc is confused on how to go by it.

Kingsley1000:
jobless man,i can see the degree of your sense........you went through hell for the past 16years,your sense couldn't librate you,now you've seen the CHANGE to relieve you,your sense won't acknowledge that

Mr Zombie, I am yet to see any sign of change that you guys are preaching; on the contrary, things are actually becoming worse since APC took over.
Below is a picture to describe you and your brainless folks.

Buck passing and blame games is a sign of hopelessness. After 7 months of kick off some1 is yet talking about past administration... This is just a sign of managerial incompetence associated with the present administration. Were they voted to complain and blame past administration for the current crises plaguing the nation?

Truth is, APC is an economic bokoharam with an expired scotch egg named Buhari.

APC sponsored article-Wailers.

He also inherited the Presidency!

He should sit up and stop complaining.