President Muhammadu Buhari- still basking in the euphoria of his recent election victory- has been challenged by economic analysts to make the economy topmost priority in his second term.
First in the order of business- according to the analysts- is the removal of government subsidy on petroleum products and the immediate reduction of interest rates.
“The country, “according to economic analysts at Augusto and Co Limited “is currently in dire fiscal straits and the numbers are quite grim.”
The indigenous rating agency expressed worry that as much as 60% of the total revenue is spent on debt repayment.
The firm called for a restructuring of government spending while exploring viable measures to raise the volume of public sector revenues.
They are convinced that the removal of subsidy on petroleum product would see the country saving an average of 1.25 trillion naira per annum.
Money saved from subsidy payment, according to the economic experts- can be channeled into other sectors of the economy in urgent need of fiscal support.
There were also calls for the administration to consider concessioning key infrastructure assets like railway, roads and airports to knowledgeable private sector players.