By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A renowned economist, Mr Bismarck Rewane, has said the federal government could claim to have achieved economic growth if it can bring down inflation to 13 per cent from the current 27.33 per cent, stabilise the exchange rate to N550 to N600 per Dollar from over N1,100/$1 in the parallel market, and grow the gross domestic product (GDP) to $1 trillion from the current less than $500 billion in the next eight years.
Mr Rewane, who served in the economic advisory team of former President Muhammadu Buhari, listed these targets during his presentation at the November edition of the Lagos Business School Breakfast Session titled Policy Direction Misaligned with Economic Destination.
He also said the government must work hard to record an average annual growth rate of 7.0 per cent, moderate the unemployment rate to 17 per cent from 33 per cent, and bring down the interest rate to 9.0 per cent from 18.75 per cent.
According to him, all these goals can be achieved if the government put in place the right policies, charging President Bola Tinubu not to be distracted by his achievement in Lagos as a Governor from 1999 to 2007.
He warned that the subnational economic dynamics are different from national, charging members of his economic team to “ramp up the skills” on how to run a state economy and a federal economy.
Business Post reports that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, worked with Mr Tinubu when he governed Lagos State.
There had been allegations that the President was handing over the affairs to Lagos Boys and Mr Rewane wants the management team of the President, who he said are “vast and experienced in subnational economic policies,” to understand the federal economic policies to be able to lead the country to the Promised Land.
He charged Mr Tinubu to “maintain a distance from political cronies and hustlers and focus on pure economic management for the next 12 to 18 months,” emphasising that “Nigeria has moved far ahead in the economic decay curve.”
