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‘Nigeria must ensure sustainable growth, prosperity for citizens’

By Margaret Mwantok
16 December 2017   |   3:31 am
For Nigeria and Nigerians to enjoy prosperity, government must continually sustain the building of the critical infrastructure in the country.Speaking at the presidential dinner in honour of Mr. Akinola Olawore as 15th president of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce ......

Akinola Olawore

For Nigeria and Nigerians to enjoy prosperity, government must continually sustain the building of the critical infrastructure in the country.Speaking at the presidential dinner in honour of Mr. Akinola Olawore as 15th president of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), one of the oldest trade associations in the country, Mr. Olabode Agusto, in a keynote address on ‘How Nigeria can restore to Growth and Prosperity,’ highlighted four major principles- growing output per person in real terms, creating employment, growing the tax base and tax revenue and ensuring price stability as necessary for effective management of any economy.

According to Agusto: “Slowing down population growth, growing tax revenue, increasing infrastructure spend, increasing spending on social services, better managing our debts and in all, reducing inflation.”

While urging government to rise up to the challenges by providing for the needy within the community, securing lives and providing basic services, he called for increase in agricultural productivity, manufacturing and other sectors of the economy, saying there are limited resources to cater for the increasing needs of Nigeria’s growing population.

“The starting point should be to improve the finances of the government, particularly the Federal Government, by ensuring that it is able to invest at least 2.5 per cent of the national income to improve infrastructure without increasing debt and ensuring that its financial condition improves, so that it can borrow at low interest rates of below seven per cent.

Agusto said a government that is financially strong borrows at a lower interest rate and provides a lower benchmark for pricing loans and businesses.The dinner was to celebrate the organisation and highlight its proposed direction for growth.

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