As government agencies start to settle down to the loss of financial autonomy, a lifeline may have been thrown their way, with the recommendation by a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo against leaving huge amounts of idle cash in the CBN at a time the economy is in desperate need of stimulation.<\/p>\n
Soludo, who is the promoter of the African Heritage Institution (AfriHeritage), Enugu, gave the advice in a 21-page paper titled: \u201cCan a New Buharinomics Save Nigeria?\u201d which he delivered at the third anniversary lecture of the RealNews magazine in Lagos yesterday.<\/p>\n
The former Anambra State gubernatorial aspirant said: \u201cThe Treasury Single Account (TSA) is a great initiative, and I congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari for that. However, we don\u2019t have to return to the past of having every penny of government lying largely redundant in the central bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed out that in an economy desperately in need of stimulation, piling up idle cash at the CBN was not sound economics, just as he advised that the government should deploy technology and transparent rules to implement a hub and spoke model of TSA whereby CBN is the hub while the commercial banks remain the spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course there are some benefits of keeping it at CBN, including possible anti-corruption outcomes but as a proverb says, you don\u2019t set your house ablaze because of the irritation of a rat in the house. We can rid the system of corruption and realise all the benefits of TSA but still not starve the economy of the necessary liquidity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Also speaking on the retention of the fuel subsidy regime, Soludo stated Buhari has the \u201cmoral authority and legitimacy\u201d to quickly remove fuel subsidy and privatise the country\u2019s refineries.<\/p>\n
His recommendation came on the heels of the N465.6 billion supplementary budget submitted by Buhari to the National Assembly on Wednesday, of which subsidy for fuel put at N413.4 billion, accounted for 80 per cent of the budget.
\nIt also came just as the 36 state governors decried the state of the economy, complaining that they could no longer afford to pay the N18,000 minimum wage.<\/p>\n
He said the fundamental case against subsidy removal was not economic, arguing that a lot of the citizens do not trust government to optimise the use of the proceeds for their welfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Buhari does not deal with these issues NOW, I wonder when, if ever.\u00a0 Now that private refineries are coming up, it is time to privatise public ones. It should have been done years ago. The huge benefits are not only economic, but also an anti-corruption move.
\n\u201cLet government produce a credible agenda of reforms for the sector and let us have another focused public debate on this subject.<\/p>\n
Thisday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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