Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday held strategic meeting with representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on how to improve on the economic incentive packages for Nigeria.
This was revealed by Laolu Akande, the spokesperson to the Vice President, via a twitter message he made available on his twitter page.
“Osinbajo has been busy today holding video conference-based meetings with IMF and World Bank representatives on how the agencies can collaborate with President Buhari’s forthcoming additional economic stimulus packages.
“Video shows just concluded meeting with World Bank Nigeria representatives,” he tweeted.
The meeting took place less than 24-hour after Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, warned Nigeria of the looming economic crisis.
According to the IMF’s boss, “Nigeria’s economy is being threatened by the twin shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated sharp fall in international oil prices.”
She warned that the country’s economy is expected to shrink by 3.4 per cent in 2020 while the large swathes of Nigerian masses could face a recession lasting until 2021.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, had on March 31, appointed the Vice President to head the Economic Sustainability Committee that was saddled with the responsibility of taking the country’s economy to new heights.
The committee was also mandated to take care of the economic challenges and fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequential restrictions.
Besides developing further palliatives, the committee is also expected to develop a sustainability plan on repositioning the economy and growing the non-oil sector.
Members include; Ministers of Finance, Budget and Planning; Industry, Trade and Investment; Labour; Minister of State Petroleum Resources and Central Bank Governor (CBN).
KAFTAN Post authoritatively learnt that the committee is putting finishing touches on three-year Sustainability Plan that is expected to take the country’s economy out of the wood.
Currently, the Nigerian economy is in dire straits with major economic indicators looking bleak amid rising vulnerabilities. The disruption caused by the ongoing pandemic, which also led to the substantial drop in crude oil prices, revealed the poor underbelly of the economy.
Crude oil accounts for about 95 per cent of the country’s export income, and a decline in the commodity market is having a ripple effect on the economy. The shock has stimulated the foreign exchange market, leading to naira depreciation and central bank’s reactive demand management to preserve foreign reserves.
The major focus of the Osinbajo-led committee has been on finding practical ways to safeguard the country’s economy during the ongoing pandemic crisis and create employment in the post pandemic days.
