How government can sustain new minimum wage, by expert

A financial expert, Dr. Jekwu Ozoemene, has called for a review of the nation’s fiscal policies for smooth implementation of the new national minimum wage.

Ozoemene stated this during a lecture organised by Owner Manager’s Programme (OMP) 22 Class of 2016, Lagos Business School (LBS), in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The theme of the session was ‘Global Change and the Next Global Financial Crisis’.The National Assembly recently proposed N30,000 minimum wage, with the Federal Government promising its implementation. Ozoemene, in his lecture, urged the government to evolve new fiscal policies capable of enhancing its smooth implementation and making the country less vulnerable to global financial shocks.

He said there were still underlining fiscal issues that needed to be addressed to enable the country get out of the current minimum wage quagmire.The financial expert posited that increasing value added tax (VAT) or selling government’s stakes would still not fund the shortfall, saying such could not be sustained.“When we implemented the N18,000 minimum wage in January 2012, it increased government’s salary, wages and pension portfolio by over 53 per cent.”

“What we are saying is that government should unlock land equities. When people call for restructuring, it is not really about restructuring, but removal of the flaws in our fiscal federalism,” he said.