Nigeria’s present economic situation gloomy, says Moghalu

Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the present Nigerian economic situation is gloomy, citing that the economy is in a state of collapse due to high debt costs, inflation and poor productivity.

Moghalu, who stated this during an interview with Channels TV on Monday night, said Nigeria’s economic situation today is extremely gloomy and extremely grim.

“I pity whoever will become the next president because he will inherit an economy that has essentially collapsed.

“Public debt stock is about almost a $100 billion, over N44trillion, a lot of people are poor, about 133 million live in multidimensional poverty, which is the most important issue that needs to be addressed.

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“We also have issues of security, which affect the economy, high inflation because of food security issues as many farmers can’t go to their farms because of security issues and so, prices of food are going up uncontrollably and this is a very big problem as well, so we have issues of debt, poverty, inflation, unemployment which is 33% and high youth unemployment.

“All this makes up a very potent ingredient in a negative sense, whoever becomes the next president, will have to, apart from the security which is fundamental, must focus very heavily on issues of poverty and the economy.”

He urged that Nigeria’s next President must restructure Nigeria’s debt, which must be done by competent hands to curb waste and free up more resources for social development spending.

Moghalu said Nigeria must expand its present tax bracket and show transparency with government spending to enable more Nigerians to pay taxes.

“If the government can show it is serious in delivering basic things people require in their lives, more people paying taxes will give the FG an improved fiscal position.”

He added the subsidy must go as there is no economic case for subsidizing petrol consumption in Nigeria, urging that almost half of what is spent is a fraud. He revealed the racket has existed for decades.

“N4-N5 trillion a year on fuel subsidy makes FG unable to deliver its constitutional mandate on the welfare of Nigerians, from education to healthcare because they are spending their money on the wrong things.

“Any presidential candidate who does not understand is not ready to make an impact on Nigeria’s social development goals.”

He urged if we invested N500 billion wisely, the FG and states can come up with a subsidized public transport system, something that will help the poor cushion the immediate impact of the removal of subsidy.