The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has called on the Federal Government to upgrade the nation’s economy by applying proper monetary and fiscal policies for successful economic systems.
NLC President, Comrade Jeo Ajaero, made the call in his speech to mark the Workers Day Celebration on Monday in Abuja.
According to him, Nigeria has unfortunately become a country led by men and women whose delight seem to be enacting policies that are detrimental to the progress of the nation.
With the 2023 Workers Day Celebration theme, ‘Workers Rights and Socioeconomic Justice’, Ajaero explained that Nigeria’s economy was on auto pilot, struggling on its own to survive.
He decried the attitude of those entrusted to manage the country’s economy for throwing filth and injecting toxins into it.
Ajaero said the system was serially abused and had, therefore, become one of the most mismanaged world economies.
“All the key macro economic variables are not promising with inflation at double digits, and unemployment worsening and rising.
“And at nearly 40 per cent with youth unemployment, very high at 65 per cent, while the exchange rate depreciating steeply and debt stock continues to rise.
“The two key broad instruments for a successful management of any economy as experts have pointed out remain having the right mix of Monetary Policies and Fiscal policies.”
The monetary and fiscal policies, Ajaero said, were supposed to work in sync to create an effective and a successful economic systems, but to all intents and purposes, the reverse was the case in Nigeria’s system.
“The structures ought to complement each other, but not to oppose each other. It is this complimentarity that serves as the keel and rudder that keeps it balanced and sailing even in the midst of choppy waters.
“In a nutshell, when there is a structural dissociation, the economy experiences schisms and suffers dislocations that must be corrected for system balance and sustenance,” he said.
The NLC president, however, commended the CBN’s currency redesigning efforts, saying it was a good policy, but was badly managed as it was not properly coordinated, especially with other structures of governance.
“The CBN’s currency redesigning efforts for example was a good policy that was badly managed because it was not properly coordinated.
“So, rather than achieving the expected results, it created deep dissonance in the system which inflicted humongous suffering on the populace.
“The informal economy lost about 50 per cent of its businesses, while productivity shrunk to about 41 per cent and the entire economy took a hit estimated in Hundred of billions.
“It took our systematic intervention comrades to correct this aberration and save our nation,” he said.
Ajaero cautioned on excessive borrowing of foreign exchange denominated loans and alerted the nation of the inherent danger.
He urged the nation’s economic managers to desist as it could affect the nation’s economy system. (NAN)
