Mikat: Confused and foggy economic policy will not help us

Alhaji Idris Shuaibu Mikati is an economist and chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). In an interview with SAXONE AIKHAINE, he urged the Federal Government to fashion out a blueprint that will help revive the economy.

Why do you think this government has no economic agenda?
I believe there are two possible reasons why the government did not follow any economic blueprint since it came in to power. One, it may be that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and indeed President Buhari never articulated a time tested and sound economic blueprint to follow on assumption of office. Two, APC and President Buhari may have had a blueprint, which became DOA (Dead On Arrival) upon seeing the magnitude of the challenges of leadership the government faces. He has recently confessed that he almost abandoned
or absconded from duty upon seeing the magnitude of the challenges.

Indeed, having contested and lost elections couple of times, President Buhari may have lost the hope of winning any election, hence, he did not adequately prepare for the challenge of leadership. If you plan to go sailing in a lake and by the time you came face to face with the water and you see an ocean, meanwhile you came with a canoe, you know you better don’t even come out with your canoe. However, after almost two years in office, I think the time is long enough for the government to have understood the issues and marshal out a plan for implementation. Nigeria is blessed with some of the best brains any country may wish to have hence, we should have had a workable and acceptable plan to follow. Time is certainly not on its side.

Finally, government may just be concentrating on fighting corruption and addressing the security situation at the expense of the economy. We have to give it to them that they have made some modest gains in these areas.

‎What do you expect to be government’s economic plan?
There are several schools of thought on economic policies and most are generally known. Government must as a matter of urgency decide the policy ‎framework to pursue. Confused economic policy would not help us. Investors would like to have clear direction and not foggy weather. We need a clear policy on interest rate, exchange rate, taxation etc. Usually, economic blueprint addresses fiscal and monetary policies of government. Objectives and goals are specified and expected outcomes duly recognised in a document that should be prepared either by government officials or hired consultants. We need a well thought policy position for guidance purposes. It is envisaged that Policy Support Instruments (PSI) as envisioned by the World Bank and IMF, which will help the international institutions to evaluate Nigeria’s development strategy and sustainability would be required.

What do you think government should do to restore confidence in the economy?
Usually the IMF provides a kind of advice to governments, which comes in form of PSI to help guide government on what to do and what not do in an effort to manage an economy efficiently and effectively. Because no country is an island, as the global economy is inter-connected, it may‎ be wise to accept such recommendations and see to their implementations, particularly now that the government is interested in borrowing from the international capital market.

Indeed the mere acceptance of a World Bank/IMF policy document on mechanics of managing our economy would create additional confidence in our system. Already, because of the anti-corruption stand of President Buhari and the efforts he has put into fighting corruption, the international community have some sympathy for this administration. What they require to see is market driven policy direction, to further compliment the goodwill he enjoys. We would see assistance coming if we have an acceptable framework to implement.

Nigerians want the government to assemble an economic team, composed of experts. What is your take on this?
Somehow, I do believe the government has an economic management team in place, but maybe the team is not coherent enough or not working in synch with one another. We have the Ministers of Finance, Trade and Investment, as well as, Budget and National Planning, the Governor of the Central Bank and the Chief Economic Adviser to President. These are members of the economic team currently handling the Nigerian system.

The challenge is, it appears there is no cohesion amongst the team as Central Bank appears to work solo and not in conjunction with Finance Ministry. Till now the CBN board is yet to be constituted. Like I said earlier on, we have abundance of professionals willing, able and ready to help out both locally and in diaspora. The President should expand the team and scout for more quality hands to help out with the challenge.