Okonjo-Iweala says Nigeria’s economy won’t grow unless….

Until the loopholes in administering foreign exchange transaction in Nigeria are addressed, its economy will remain prostrate.

This is the summation of Nigeria’s former Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who faulted claims by the CBN Governor, Godwin Enefiele, and other key policy makers, that the economy is on its right course.

But her comment is coming on the heels of the International Monetary Fund’s assertion that Nigeria’s recession may be extended to 2018, contrary to popular belief that it should be over in 2017.

The former World Bank Managing Director was speaking on Wednesday in Celestin Monga, in Ahmedabad, India, during a book launch, enitled: ‘Beating the Odds: Jumpstarting Developing Countries’, written by Justin Yifu

She said sustainable growth and development would elude Nigeria until it puts some basic factors in place, among them being avoiding multiple exchange for various sectors in the same economic environment; giving rooms for more investors to trust the policy of government, among others.

Hear her: “You can have development that takes specific country and context specific situations in hand and begin from there.

“So, the proposals for industrial parks, industrial zones or what you want to call them as a way of kicking off development in a country fits within this context.

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“For me, I think we should just absorb the lesson that there is no one correct answer to economic growth and development. There is no one path.

“There are some specific and fundamental principles that are important, which, if you do not observe, you will not take off. And I think, even with this, you would agree; if your prices are not right within the economy, it is still not going to work.

“And when I mean prices, I think like, if you have a distorted exchange rate regime, if you have very severe distortions within the economy, that are fundamental to macroeconomic stability, it is not going to work.

“So we can outline those principles, and say you need to observe certain principles; these are not conditionalities or 450 prescriptions we are talking about. They are just certain basic principles that underpin development,” she said.

According to her a developing economy can hardly afford to leave all its sectors to the markets-force-driven, adding that ability of government to draw the line, as to knowing where it comes in in order to achieve economic growth and development, is key.

Okonjo-Uweala further stated, “We forget that even in those countries where the economic theories we are expounding were born and are being practised that there is an acknowledged role for the state.

“That there are market imperfections and failures, where we have to call in other instruments other than the market. These are things we need to bear in mind”‎, she said

 

 

 

 

 

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