Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has stressed the need for Nigeria and other developing countries currently implementing reforms and other structural adjustment programmes to ensure that the interest of vulnerable populations in the respective countries are prioritized in such initiatives.
The minister made this remark while responding to questions during a media briefing of the Intergovernmental Group of 24 (G24), comprising a group of countries’ representatives and also members of the World Bank and IMF, Edun pointed out that to ensure this, developing countries must focus on implementing sustainable reforms at the macroeconomic level and ensure that the most vulnerable populations in the countries are protected from the upfront costs of the reforms.
On the lessons Nigeria and other G24 countries implementing sundry reforms so far, Edun said: “The key lesson that I think I will focus on is that in devising these programmes and carrying out reforms, what is particularly important because the benefits are over the longer term and the costs are front-loaded, is the social safety net that will help the poor and the vulnerable cope with the upfront costs with a spike in their cost of living. It has to be adequately planned for and dealt with.“It shouldn’t be a question of afterthought that you now decide that there need to be certain poverty alleviation initiatives linked to that or linked to helping the poor and most vulnerable.
“Another thing is communication. I think one of the critical things in carrying out these macroeconomic reforms that are so fundamental is communicating what is being done, what is to be expected, and also the timing of the various activities.
“So, if it is a programme to give direct benefits, direct transfers of funds, to a group of people, then they should be published for everyone to understand. There should be a dashboard that people can follow, thereby engendering and building public trust”, the minister added.
While harping on the importance of planning for social safety nets to help the poor and vulnerable cope with the immediate impact of such reforms, Edun, who served as the Second Vice Chairman of the G24 countries, maintained that Nigeria’s ability to address current foreign exchange (FX) crisis would depend on boosting crude oil production and exports of non-oil goods and services on a sustainable scale.
Meanwhile, the IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published on Tuesday downgraded Nigeria’s growth prospects for 2024 from 3.3% to 2.9% amid escalating inflationary and other fiscal challenges that are undermining productivity, particularly in the real sector of the economy.
