A member of the State of Osun House of Assembly, Mr Babatunde Olatunji, has urged the Federal Government to implement the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to impact the lives of Nigerians in the New Year.
Olatunji who is a member of the All Progressives Congress representing Ife North State Constituency, House Committee Chairman on Commerce, Cooperatives and Youth Empowerment, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo on Friday.
According to him, it is cheering news that the nation exited recession in the second quarter of 2017 with growth in the third quarter.
He, however, said that government needed to sustain the continued growth of the economy with positive policies.
Olatunji said that government also needed to renew its focus on economic diversification; growth in the private sector and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises toward full economic recovery and growth in the New Year.
The lawmaker said that the expected economic recovery should be driven largely by continued recovery of oil production and price.
He also suggested availability of foreign exchange for non-oil sector and other critical needs as well as reduction of lending rate, among others.
“With appropriate and coherent fiscal, monetary and trade policies mix, government must intensify efforts in boosting the economy through fiscal stimulus, spending on critical infrastructure, agriculture and solid minerals to catalyse the economy,’’ Olatunji said.
He commended the prevailing projection of national economic growth rate of 2.1 per cent according to the International Monetary Fund and 2.6 per cent by Fitch Rating Agency for the 2018 financial year.
According to him, with the projection, Nigerians are expected to experience an improvement in condition of living as against years 2016 and 2017.
Olatunji said that the Federal Government also needed to ensure that the economy grew very fast above the population growth rate for the citizens to feel the impact of the growth.
“With early passage as well as strict implementation of the 2018 budget, I am optimistic that Nigeria will consolidate on the economic growth of previous years, ‘’ the lawmaker said.
