Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane
November 14, 2017: According to the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, the 2018 budget recently presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly lacks the capacity to grow the economy of Nigeria.
They said although the country was in dire need of economic growth given the current economic times, the 2018 budget was not an option in giving the economy a leap. He said this at the 2018 Budget Seminar organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Lagos on Friday.
Also present at the forum were a professor of Economics at the University of Lagos, Ifeanyi Nwokoma; the Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf; and the Director-General, SEC, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, among others.
For the 2018 budget, Rewane said expenditure growth was zero, pointing out that there were no stimulants for growth.
“It is not an expansionary budget; we are not spending our way to growth,” he said.
He said multiple exchange rates in the economy were not addressed in the budget, noting that the prevalence of such rates would continue to distort the market.
He added, “Inflationary projection in the budget is not realistic. Government is silent on subsidy on power and petroleum products, and minimum wage. The projection for non-oil revenue is not realistic and the deficit gap may widen after all.”