Posted by The LCCI supports the government’s idea to stop giving money to petrol, which they think will help Nigeria’s debt and lessen corruption in the oil industry.
Dr Michael Olawale-Cole, who is the President of LCCl, said this during a meeting about the economy in Lagos on Tuesday.
A report by the Debt Management Office says that Nigeria owes N46.25 trillion (which is equal to $103.11 billion) as of the end of December 2022. This is more than the N39.56 trillion ($95.77 billion) it owed in 2021.
Olawale-Cole asked the government to start taking steps to prevent any problems that might come from removing subsidies later this year. This will help to protect the economy.
Taking away fuel subsidies may encourage domestic refining and petrochemical investments, which would benefit everyone involved. It could create a valuable chain of events for those involved in the industry.
Although ending fuel subsidies may make prices go up for a while, it’s probably one of the best choices we can make to reduce our debt and make the fuel industry less corrupt.
He said that the government needs to consider the effects on society and the economy, especially since unemployment is very high at about 40%.
The leader of LCCI didn’t agree with getting loans to give subsidies or help businesses that don’t make money. They said that the government focusing too much on getting into debt is not good.
Olawale-Cole thinks that the government should focus on finding new ways to make money. This might mean selling some of their properties or trying to stop people from stealing oil. By doing this, the government will have more control over their finances.
He said it’s very important to follow the new Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI). President Muhammadu Buhari launched it in February. To make the most of the country’s resources.
The leader of LCCI said that we should talk more about how much money is made from things like stocks, property and buildings in the country.
According to him, it would give people near and far a fair idea of our money situation.
This would encourage our national asset managers to make our money grow and earn more profits while our national liability managers work hard to reduce our debts and costs.
It would be best if MOFI and DMO released reports together in the future.
When people only talk about the bad things a country owes without talking about the good things it has, it can make the country look worse and affect its ability to borrow money in the future. This may have happened with Nigeria’s debt.
He said that the ratings would have been better if they updated the assets and liabilities together.
The person said that they tried to stop inflation by raising the interest rate, but it didn’t work well enough. The rate of inflation in March was 22.04%.
He said that in many countries, the biggest problem was that the cost of living was going up. The most important goals were to keep inflation low and have enough real economic growth.
The government should help important industries like farming, transportation for goods, making things, electricity, fuel, and safety.
The government needs to find ways to make it easier to get the things needed to make products and help manufacturers by giving them cheaper resources and money from other countries.
He said that the Central Bank of Nigeria should keep giving affordable loans to small businesses, even if they are trying to control inflation by reducing the amount of money in circulation.